The Angel Assassin
by lightNdarkangel
Summary: She promised to protect them, no matter what the cost, no matter what the sacrifice. For two years, she has kept her promise by staying away and leaving her memories behind. Now her nightmare has come full circle and she must choose. Past or present.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so I wrote this sometime after TFW came out and my friend and I weren't impressed. So basically, I wrote this for her just for fun and it kind of evolved from there. Anyway, this is a definite Fax story, but it'll just take a while to get there, sorry 'bout that. Also just so you know, Blitz is my own character, but I promise that he won't be the center of the story. He's a source of drama for Max, but this is ultimately about Max and Fang, promise! Constructive criticism is awesome by the way! Dedicated to my awesome friend and inspiration, Annaka! **

**By the way, I made a little promo video for this, so go check it out if you so desire! The link is in my profile!**

**Disclaimer: Ugh...well, I'd better get this outta the way. I'd like to say that I own the entire Flock and their souls…but I don't. I'd like to say that I own Maximum Ride entirely…but I don't. They belong to James Patterson, who is awesome and unfortunately not me. However, I do own Blitz and his squad as well as Director Markus Hightower. Their souls are mine. Steal them and I will find you…**

She promised to protect them, no matter what the cost, no matter what the sacrifice. For two years, she has kept her promise by staying far away from them and leaving her memories behind. Now her nightmare has come full circle. Can she return to them and the life she knew before? Or will her sacrifice refuse to leave her so quickly?

**The Angel Assassin**

**Chapter 1: Conference**

"Hey nice job on that last mission," one of my squad mates, Kyle, said with a toothy grin. "You kicked butt."

"Yeah," I replied nonchalantly. I wasn't overly proud of what I did nor did I make any effort to make friends at the Compound. Besides Kyle, only idiot without a stupid nickname around here wasn't the one with nightmares plaguing his subconscious now was he?

Anyway, the Compound isn't exactly the most cheerful place every invented so you can see why making friends wouldn't come easy. The pale, mint green tile is about as colorful as it gets. Cheery isn't it? Considering why it was built, however, it's not too surprising.

See the Compound was built by Itex for training recombinants to be elite assassins. These unfortunate few would become the ultimate weapon in the hands of Itex and other organizations worldwide. Let the implications of that thought process chase themselves around in your head for a while. Not a pretty picture is it? Anyway not to sound braggy, because I'm not, but I, Maximum Ride, happen to be one of the best. Like I said, that's not necessarily a good thing, but oh well.

"You going to the conference room?" Kyle said with a slight smirk that reminded me of someone I think I used to know. I wonder if I ever wanted to knock that person's teeth out too…

"Yes," I answered curtly. One thing I've learned about Eraser Kyle is that he's not exactly the hottest pepper in the entire enchilada if you catch my drift. Plus he's taken to becoming my sidekick.

Now let's get something straight here. If I even wanted a sidekick, which I don't, it wouldn't be Kyle. Hell, it wouldn't look, talk, or even think like Kyle seeing as how I can't stand the kid. He's one of those who would throw himself in front of a bus if you asked which is tempting.

"Sweet," Kyle said, again with the same easily punched smirk. "Blitz is supposed to go too."

"Don't you have something you need to do?" I asked mentally wincing at the mention of Blitz.

Blitz, short for Blitzkrieg or lightning war in German (don't ask where he got that name or you'll regret it), was one of the only other Avian hybrid assassins around. This naturally meant he thought he was God's gift to the world, me in particular. He was more or less an arrogant jerk off, but he was my second in command on the squad. Apparently killing your squad mates is frowned upon. I found that out when I put the last one in the infirmary for several days. Let's just say he won't be fathering children anytime soon.

"Actually Switch and I were going to mess around in the gym," Kyle replied with a shrug. He glanced up at the huge metal doors that signaled our arrival at the conference room with disdain. "Well good luck, Max, and try not to kill Blitz. He doesn't mean half of what he says."

"Yeah I bet he does," I muttered watching Kyle dart away down the hall. I'd say he wasn't all there, but the Compound runs mental health screenings every three weeks. Gotta keep your mutant murderers from suffering any brain damage of course.

I swung open the doors into the conference room with a sigh. Director Markus Hightower, fitting name I know, stood up from the head of the table with a warm grin. He gave off the appearance of the fatherly type at first glance, his deep brown hair streaked with gray, but I'd also seen his cold, calculating side at work.

"Ah Max," he said with a slight lilt to his voice. I still hadn't decided what his accent was for sure. "We were just about to start."

I glanced around grimacing as I noticed the only available seat was next to Blitz. Joy. I recognized several others around the room. Anne Walker sat, smugly watching me as though she knew something I didn't. I'd decided a while ago that I needed her opinion about as much as I needed Blitz's twisted attempts at romance or say a hole in the head.

"Hey Anne," I whispered my voice low and icy, in other words my ultimate evil voice. I've been practicing it just for her. "Want to get rid of the look or is your face just naturally deformed like that?"

Anne jumped slightly but said nothing. She didn't dare, you could never tell when one of us assassin's might snap and then bam! You're dead. I leaned back in my chair now the one boasting a smirk. I don't know why I hate Anne. She hadn't technically done anything to me…yet. Maybe we were just predestined to hate each other, not likely, but still a thought. Or maybe there was something else. _There were people around me, Anne included, watching me strapped to a metal table. All of them wanting to see if I had the killer's instinct, only they wanted to do it from the inside out. I wasn't giving them what they wanted, not by a long shot and…_

"You're in a good mood today," Blitz said interrupting my painful memories.

"Not for you I'm not," I retorted as a shiver traced my spine.

"You'll see eventually, we were made for each other," Blitz chuckled sweeping his black hair with gaudy red streaks out of his face.

"Doubtful," I said gritting my teeth.

"You just don't know how to handle the fire, I can teach you," Blitz muttered his face painfully close to mine.

"Now that we're all here," Director Hightower said throwing a glare at Blitz, who as usual ignored it with a scowl and took to sulking in his chair. "Now as you all know, thanks to their efforts of one of our top of the line, ultimately the best assassin here, young Maximum, our funding has now been doubled."

_Yeah, _I thought, _and all I'd had to do was kill a guy…_At the memory a shiver traced my spine involuntarily.

"However, Senator Dempsey is not the only one trying to get in the way of our developing industries worldwide," Hightower went on oblivious to my internal struggle. "There are several others who would love to see our magnificent plans for this world overthrown. If we can take out a key few who are getting recognized we will become unstoppable."

"Monsieur Hightower," a representative of Itex: France spoke up. "Who exactly would we eliminate? There's no real telling who the defined leaders of this little coup are."

"I have sources of information and I can tell you with utmost confidence that though your fears are well grounded, they hold little consequence," he replied pulling up a map on the projector. "We have names and locations. All we need to do is give this information to our elite squad led by Max and seconded by Blitz and we've got them.

"It's quite simple really. Here in the U.S. we have Mitchell Artesia-" he hit a button and an arrow pointed to Seattle along with a picture, he continued as he recited names- "finally we have the highest priority, Dr. Jeb Batchelder, an ex-employee of the School, which as you all know is a subsidiary of Itex, and Dr. Valencia Martinez, a specialized veterinarian in Arizona."

"Dr. Batchelder?" Anne yelped incredulously. "Markus I don't-" she paused throwing me a pointed look- "May I speak with you?"

Director Hightower nodded and Anne followed him into a side room leaving Blitz, myself, and all the foreign dignitaries who immediately began babbling in their native tongues. Luckily for me, when they'd upgraded my sight for night vision, they'd also enhanced my hearing rendering the closed door useless.

"Anne, I don't see the problem here," Hightower said coolly.

"You know very well who is staying with Batchelder and Martinez, letting the squad go there with Max at the helm could result in disaster," Anne shot back. "What if the block is broken?"

"That's extremely unlikely," Hightower argued annoyance flooding his normally calm voice. "Besides it will take a lot more than sight and touch to break those blocks. I made sure of that myself so unless you're calling me incompetent, I suggest you let it go."

The door opened again and an extremely pissed off Anne stormed back to her seat. Hightower merely straightened his tie and strolled back to the head of the table. The foreign dignitaries cut off their chatter in their own languages and turned their focus to the director.

"Now, it will take a day or two to make everything is exactly right, but we will put this behind us and move forward with plans for a new world order," he announced triumphantly. The dignitaries clapped excitedly before standing up to leave.

As they filtered out once again babbling excitedly, Hightower meandered over to Blitz and I. A victorious smile was pasted across his features and I thought for a moment he might start jumping up and down screaming. As if I actually cared enough.

"Stunning performance Doc," Blitz said flashing his cocky smirk. "I'd give you a 9.75 for it."

"Yes, well nonetheless I don't want this screwed up Blitz," Hightower said slowly making sure Blitz was listening. "We'll have a more in depth briefing right before you leave and we can go over certain protocols then."

"Anne didn't seem too happy," I commented with a shrug noting the way Hightower jumped slightly.

"She never is," he said quickly smoothing over their previous argument. "Now just rest up and get ready for the next day or so."

"Hallelujah," Blitz muttered as Hightower walked away. "So Max, what say you and I get in some private training?"

"In your dreams," I retorted making sure my voice was like cold steel. If I gave into Blitz, soon his kind of private training would result with me mostly on my back. Just think about that for a while.

I turned on my heel aware that Blitz was trailing not far behind. If there's one thing about Blitz that I absolutely hate, it's his complete misunderstanding of the word no. To him no is just another, more challenging form of yes.

"How're we supposed to be a team if you just avoid the subject?" Blitz asked from behind me. "We don't even have to stay here. We could run away and start a new life without all this."

"Look Blitz, if I had my choice of second in command, it wouldn't be you. It wouldn't even be anything like you," I replied my voice a low warning growl. Not that I expected Blitz to get the message. "My answer to your thick head is and always will be no."

"You don't really believe that," Blitz countered as I walked into the weapons room.

"You don't know what I believe," I said inhaling the smell of gunpowder and cold steel.

Now don't get me wrong, I hate the Compound more than anyone should be allowed to hate a place, but the weapons room is the only room that doesn't have that smell. The smell of death and pain barely covered by a thick, cloying antiseptic was the dominating scent that filled the Compound.

I picked up a long bladed knife that was virtually weightless in my hand. Guns weren't and probably never would that appealing to me. I couldn't stand the way that one squeeze of the trigger would completely erase someone from existence. A weird complex for an assassin I realize, but hey maybe it was that exact part of me that wanted the challenge and guns went against it.

"Maybe you should show me what you believe," Blitz whispered his hand sliding around my waist.

I whirled around holding the knife to his throat, "Maybe one of these days I will show you exactly how deep my hate for you goes."

"I always loved a good challenge," he said as the knife bit slightly into his neck leaving a faint red line. "It's not me you hate; it's all this, but now that someone can take this away you're scared of letting go. You're scared of change."

I tried to dig the knife deeper into him, but my hand felt numb and it hung limply as his words dug into my mind. I did hate him, but some part of me screamed a truth to his words. Blitz coolly pushed the knife away from him and it hit the floor at my feet clanking against the tiles.

"Let me love you a little before you decide to hate me," he whispered his face inches from mine.

"What're you doing?" I asked desperate to shove him off, which I would've enjoyed except that my arms either couldn't or wouldn't respond to my brain's constant pleas. And just because karma loves me so much, I now had a headache from trying to deal with Blitz 24/7.

Suddenly Blitz's lips were on mine and my day went from bad to worse. I was fuming and yet unable to stop him. All the fight seemed to drain from my limbs as everything went black and Blitz was replaced by another dark haired boy.

The new guy's hair was streaked with tan colors making his hair look like a hawk's plumage; somehow this was ironic although I couldn't place why. There was now a fire somewhere as the Compound seemed to melt away, the white walls replaced by a dim cave. There was a fire nearby and it seemed to dance along the strange guy's cheekbones highlighting his onyx eyes.

"What the heck are you doing?" I hear myself ask as his hands massage my back lulling me into security.

"Helping you change your mind," he whispers back and then his lips are on mine, warm and his touch gentle.

With all the finesse of a drunk, I snapped back into reality to see Blitz trying to pin me to the wall. My shorted and aching brain came back to buzzing and painful life for several second. Plenty long enough to knee Blitz in the groin and take exactly two steps away from him. My head was processing everything in slow motion and yet my senses were running rampant. I heard a strange noise and realizing it was my own pained cry, I gave into the blackness, the much less confusing blackness where everything made sense. It gladly took me with welcoming arms.

**A/N: So there you have it! The first chapter! Remember the wonderful button at the bottom! Push it for the love of Fax and chocolate! I plan to update at least once a week, but reviews make me go faster! Yay!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Ugh...well, I'd better get this outta the way. I'd like to say that I own the entire Flock and their souls…but I don't. I'd like to say that I own Maximum Ride entirely…but I don't. They belong to James Patterson, who is awesome and unfortunately not me. However, I do own Blitz and his squad as well as Director Markus Hightower. Their souls are mine. Steal them and I will find you…**

**A/N: First off I must say that I love you all! I was worried that I didn't explain very well, but I underestimated you...sorry! Anyway, I'm really glad that you enjoyed the first chapter! So happy in fact that I'm posting the second one right now! I'm hoping to post a chapter every other day from now on or so. Also, I have the next few chapters set up as Max's POV then Fang's and then Max's. Basically they just switch off, but I'll still let you know who's POV it is so there's no confusion. And in case you were wondering, this is set after STWAOES and completely disregards TFW, in case you wanted to know. Now, I'll shut up and we'll get on with the story! If you have any questions, comments, or ideas be sure to let me know! I love reviews and constructive criticism, they make me that much better. Now I promise to shut up! Enjoy!**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 2: Dreams Don't Comfort Me **

**Fang POV **

_Fire and agony ricocheted from my wing down my left arm as the Eraser jerks my wing at an awkward angle. I bit my tongue trying to stay awake even as the intensity of the pain threatened to white out my vision._

_"We're completely serious as you can see Max," the Eraser standing over me says. No emotion shows on his face nor is reflected in his words. The sunlight highlights the harsh lines of a face that has never smiled. "I'll keep hurting your boy here until you give me something else to do."_

_"Please stop," Max mumbles and even from where I am, I can see her knees shaking._

_"No Max," I choke out. "Don't you dare go with them."_

_"If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," the huge red haired Eraser next to me snaps. The back of his fist smacks roughly into against the side of my face and as my head snaps sideways, I taste the unmistakable copper tang of blood._

_"No!" Max screams before the Eraser can hit me again. "If I do what you want, will you leave them alone?"_

_She asks with a bitter intent I see all too well. I won't, can't let her die for me or anyone else. I drag my self back up onto my knees facing her directly even with blood spilling from my mouth._

_"You don't know what you're saying," I mumble through the pain. _

_"And I want a minute to talk to him," she goes on ignoring my protests. Still even I can tell that this is taking a toll on her. Strong, proud Max is trying violently not to break down. What makes it worse is knowing it's over me. I shouldn't have yelled her name, why hadn't I kept my mouth shut and left her out of this? Why hadn't I just left her alone in her room away from this hellish scene?_

_"Look I don't care what you do, just make it quick," the Eraser replies victoriously. "We're only here for you, not them."_

_"What're you doing?" I demand weakly as Max kneels next to me. "You can't do this… Please don't."_

_"I have to Fang," she says softly her eyes betraying her stony demeanor. There's so many regrets and loss. She reaches out, her fingers lightly grazing my bloodied feathers. "Please understand I'm going to save you and the Flock. Without you my life is nothing and I know they'll kill you if I stay. I'd never do this for them, never them."_

_"I don't want to lose you," I plead desperately trying to convince her to stay. I can already tell I'm fighting a losing battle. "I can't take care of them on my own."_

_"Yes you can. I know you can," Max says tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "I've finally realized I can't live without you, it hurts too much. You keep fighting and I'll find a way to get back to you."_

_Without waiting for my response, she gently holds my face and presses her lips to mine. In that split second was packed so many different emotions and feelings that all at once gave me hope and yet dragged me down. I wanted this moment to never end, but just go on and on forever. Even if we both died, at least we'd be together in this moment forever._

_Finally the Eraser jerks Max away from me and roughly shoves her towards the chopper. All I can do is lie breathlessly in a heap of agony. With a sudden burst of strength I drag myself to my feet and jump the Eraser closest to me slamming my elbow into his face. A feral yell echoes from my lips as I tackle him, roughly jerking his head into the ground. I vaguely hear Max yell for me to stop as two Erasers grab my arms wrenching my injured wing up. _

_I can hear the chopper taking off and there's nothing I can do as the Erasers drop me and race to the chopper. I still get up and against all better judgment I flip out my wings ignoring the torturous fire in the left one. I leap into the wind, airborne in seconds. The helicopter is gaining speed and it's obvious I won't catch it._

_"Max!" I yell after it until my lungs burn._

_Finally as the chopper fades from view, hot pain fills my limbs and I let gravity take me. I calmly let it pull me towards the cold unforgiving ground; back into someone's waiting arms._

I jerked back to reality tangled in the sticky sheets on my bed. Yes, before you get all confused, I do indeed have an actual bed these days. All of the Flock does since we're staying with Dr. Martinez or Val as she prefers.

After disentangling myself from the thick sheets I pull on a shirt and plop back down on my bed. It's hard to believe that it's been two years since that dream was a reality, probably because I see it perfectly and relive it ever time I go to sleep. Apparently my brain is unwilling to let the memories stop taunting me in horrid endless cycles. Whenever I think of her, I end up choking on grief and anger over my own weakness. I should've been able to save her and I didn't.

My memory seems determined not to let me forget it either.

"Hey Fang, breakfast in five," Ella calls passing my door.

I'm so tempted to call out that I'm not hungry and it wouldn't be a lie. I know better though. If I don't come down, Val will come up and drag me down. Her or Jeb, and probably knowing that I haven't exactly warmed up to Jeb, she'll send him. I slowly threw some jeans on and walked hesitantly downstairs to join the Flock.

"Hi Fang," Angel smiled brightly as I plopped down in the nearest chair. Her eyes met mine for a small moment and I nodded in the briefest recognition.

I looked around the rest of the table. Iggy was talking to Ella who had walked in behind me. Iggy was feeling Max's loss much the same as I was. Max had always been like a sister to Iggy as had the Flock. Losing her was like losing family since his had never cared. If he was anything like me, then his heart was just as mangled and ravaged beyond compare. Nudge was a lot the same and some nights I had heard Angel or her crying and the other would go to comfort them and they'd end up crying each other to sleep. Even Gazzy wasn't the same; I figured that Max's absence had touched him more than he ever let one. It had gotten somewhat better over time, but the scars were still there.

I couldn't help but think that Max was dead even though she'd promised to come back. If she'd been able to escape, she'd be here already safe and hopefully in my arms. Make no mistake about it, I'd looked for her with a fiery determination, but finally my resolve had slowly seeped away. I would've gone to hell and back to find her and probably lost my soul alone the way, but luckily or not for me, Iggy had been there to save me. It was hard to face the defeat, but I couldn't figure out what else they could've done with her.

"Glad to see you joining us Fang," Val said sitting at the opposite end of the table.

I merely shrugged, I guess I can't honestly complain since Val didn't have to let us stay, but she had nonetheless despite losing her daughter. It was hard to think that Val was hurting as much as the rest of us. Besides it wasn't like she'd forced us to do anything we weren't comfortable with. School of course was a good example of this.

We tried school for a while, but it didn't exactly work out. Unfortunately every girl had either become infatuated with Iggy or me, regardless of whether or not they already had a boyfriend. In fact one of the cheerleaders, who was also dating the football captain, had started flirting with me and begging a date. This had resulted in the football star trying to break my nose. Let's just say I did a lot more in return and we never went back.

Angel nudged my elbow and jerked her head toward Iggy, who was searching for the syrup. That was Iggy for you, too proud to ask for help. I reached over and quickly scooted the syrup to where he could easily reach it.

"I don't need any help Fang," Iggy said coolly realizing what I'd done.

"So you'd rather grope around for it and end up making a huge mess?" I asked coldly as I shoved pancakes into my mouth.

Iggy and I fighting was so wrong, but lately our battles had gotten worse. It was like we were both suffering from a black poison that seeped through our veins and we had to release it somehow. Unfortunately we took it out on each other, each taking turns painfully ripping shards of dagger like glass from the others unhealed soul.

Iggy sat in silence for a moment, his hand clenching around his fork. Doing this to him was killing me inside, but then there wasn't much left to kill. I was hollow already so there wasn't much he could do to me that would make things much worse.

"Shut up," Iggy growled his voice icy. "I don't need you."

"Yeah and you didn't need Max either," I shot back making my own wounds ache. There was a silent hole in my heart that was slowing killing me from the inside out and no matter what I did, it wouldn't close.

"I didn't ask for your help or hers," Iggy yelled now in full fighting mode. "I might be blind, but I don't need to be catered to. I don't need your damn pity!"

"Likewise," I shot back standing up quickly. I stabbed my pancakes with my fork and turned on my heel.

"Fang, don't do this," Nudge pleaded knowing I wouldn't listen.

I unwittingly caught Angel's eye and almost broke down over it. Her eyes pleaded silently with me to stay, to come back. "Please don't," she whispered in heartrending tone.

"I'm not hungry," I mumbled feeling guilty as I stomped up the stairs.

I headed straight to my room shutting the door behind me and flipped on my stereo. I fell onto my bed listening to Linkin Park Rest and hating myself for what I was doing. I was in pain, but did that really mean I had to take it out on everyone else? I did it because I hate silence; I hated not having something to clutter my brain because without that clutter my thoughts automatically drifted to her. It drifted to happier times with the Flock all together, not emotionally and physically torn apart.

"Fang, I'm coming in whether you like it not," Val said knocking on the door. I figured she would come up here to find me; it was only a matter of time.

She opened the door proving her point and sat on the end of my bed. Her eyes were a calm mask that couldn't cover up the throbbing pain underneath. I immediately turned away unable to look her in the eyes. We sat in an awkward silence as she turned down the stereo.

"I'm sorry about Iggy and stuff," I said blandly hoping all she wanted was an apology.

"I know you are, but what really bothers me is that you just don't seem to care anymore. This isn't you, but I don't know how to help you," she countered sparking something in me.

"What's the point of caring? Max is dead and a part of me died with her," I explained coolly. "I don't want to keep being reminded that I'll never see her again. So unless you can bring back the dead, there's nothing you can do."

"What?" Val said sharply jerking my head up to face her. "I don't ever want to hear you give up so easily ever again. You say she's dead, but what evidence do you have to prove it? You've just convinced yourself of that fact in the hope that it will ease the pain. Have you figured out yet that it won't?

"I've seen you two together and it's obvious to everyone but you two that you were made with each other in mind. So you can sit here and choose to believe your mind or your heart. Then when you've figured it out," Val paused momentarily letting it sink in, "you come tell me whether you really believe she's dead."

I sat there speechlessly watching Max's mom rise to leave. It was days like this that I saw where Max got her personality from.

"You're not the only one hurting," she added, feeling to me like a final blow.

As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. As many times as I'd told myself Max was dead, a part of me wouldn't, couldn't believe. I knew for a fact that I would never care for anyone like I'd cared for her. Did Dr. Martinez understand this?

As I watched her turn to leave, the door swung open to Jeb standing in the doorway. His eyes were a façade of calm that I immediately saw through. The last few years have taken their toll on the man I had once admired as a father. His hair had taken on a silvery sheen and worry lines creased his forehead. I guess losing Ari and then Max in quick succession did that to the guy.

"Val, Fang," he said his eyes flashing to my window, "we've got a serious problem."

"What do you mean?" Dr. Martinez asked sounding unsure if she really wanted an answer.

"Itex has taken it upon themselves to send professional assassins here," Jeb said his tone agitated. "Let's say Senator Dempsey's death was no accident. They're eliminating all competition against their plans."

With that hanging in the air, Jeb turned and raced back down the stairs with Val in close pursuit. It took me a minute to process all this. I had to get downstairs and protect the Flock. Dr. Martinez was right about all this. Max wasn't dead, I'd know first thing if she was. Besides, I'd promised to keep the Flock safe. If nothing else, I owed her that much.

--------------------

**A/N: Eeek! They're sending professional assassins! I wonder who that could be hahaha! By the way, I'm sorry if Fang got a little OOC there. I just needed to make him more pissy and reclusive than normal for the moment...sad, I know. Anyway, hope you liked it! Don't forget our little buddy, Bob the Review Button! Please push him, he's lonely!**

**~lightNdarkangel**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Ugh...well, I'd better get this outta the way. I'd like to say that I own the entire Flock and their souls…but I don't. I'd like to say that I own Maximum Ride entirely…but I don't. They belong to James Patterson, who is awesome and unfortunately not me. However, I do own Blitz and his squad as well as Director Markus Hightower. Their souls are mine. Steal them and I will find you…**

**A/N: Okay, first of all, I have to say I'm sorry because I haven't updated. Mostly because I've been distracted by a cute boy, but anyway… So I'm updating now for all of you cause I know how I'd feel if I was you. Basically, as the chapter title says, Max and Fang see each other again! Will it be a good thing, well you'll just have to read to find out won't you? **

**Chapter 3: First Sight**

**Max POV**

"You sure you can do this?" Blitz asked with a look that said he thought he deserved leader position. Lucky for me that Hightower had quickly denied him.

Earlier this morning I had woken up in the infirmary with a pounding headache that still hadn't dissipated. I still had a million questions about the boy in my memory. His piercing onyx eyes had been haunted me all morning and had no intention of stopping. Plus his voice, one that seemed so familiar that it was chilling, had assaulted my sense over and over again.

What was he trying to change my mind over exactly? That one memory or vision or whatever had opened more questions than answers. Questions I didn't expect answered anytime soon, especially with Hightower's avoidance of the subject of my blackout.

"Hello, earth to Max," Blitz tried again rapping his knuckles against my skull further agitating my headache.

I immediately drew back from his touch. "Of course I'm fine to do this. A lot better off than you are," I smirked noticing his obvious limp from my knee to his crotch. Between you and me, I'd loved doing it to him.

"What exactly did you do?" Switch, Kyle's friend, asked grinning from ear to ear.

We were all suiting up for our mission after out briefing which hadn't gone well by any standard either. Blitz had somehow decided I was his property and had quickly taken to exploring every scar, ever imperfection on my arm and being in the middle of briefing there had been nothing I could do to stop him. Honestly his hands on me at all made me sick to my stomach. Still I let the guy in my dreams touch me and hadn't flinched away. At least I didn't think so. It was hard to tell since the memory cut off half way. Still there must have been a difference between this guy and Blitz if I was letting him touch me.

"I heard she rearranged his…well you know," TJ said with a grin behind Blitz's back.

"He needs it," Raze said with a low chuckle. "That'd explain his walking like he's been on a horse to long."

Ah, let me take a minute to explain the joys of being surrounded by guys. Big, stupid Eraser guys, well except for Blitz, he was just stupid. Their discussions can and often did get a little too graphic even though I've dealt with it forever. There are so many pleasant conversations that I've had to sit through so I think I've become immune.

"Come on, you don't need to listen to that," Blitz said suddenly at my side. The weirdest thing about my arrogant jerk-off cohort is that he has, on rare occasion, a very gentlemanly side that he shows to no one but me. This is fine until he drops it and resumes the touchy feely crap.

"Are you excited?" Blitz asked once we're alone. He's playing with his knife, an unmistakable blade with lightning etched into the side that I'd seen in action one too many times. Most were against targets of a mission, but I'd seen him use it here in the Compound against lab techies that pissed him off. Regardless of its use, the blade always held a sinister gleam beneath fluorescent lighting.

I chose to play dumb at that moment. I've never been exactly honest with Blitz, Kyle, or anyone else on the squad and I didn't intend to start.

"What'd you mean?" I asked keeping my face passive and uninterested.

"About the mission," Blitz went on obliviously. He still hadn't accepted my kicking his trash. According to Blitz, if he didn't acknowledge the defeat, then it never happened. "Right before a mission, I get all tingly. It's sorta like playing God, being an assassin."

Yeah, God with a Hitler complex, an annoyingly toothy grin, and an aversion to the word no. Some God Blitz would make.

"But I was thinking yesterday," Blitz started twirling his knife over his fingers. I immediately winced wondering what blasphemy might escape his lips. "If I die on this mission, I want to die knowing that you know I love you."

I almost laughed at this. Instead I settled for a sigh. Blitz was taking a different approach to winning me over. He'd tried this before, employing his charm to try and get me to give in. Unfortunately for him, I'd seen it all before and it hadn't worked then and it wasn't about to work now.

"You only love yourself Blitz," I replied turning away from him.

"I'm not that vain Max. I just enjoy perfection," he laughed.

"Well, I'm not perfect so look somewhere else," I retorted eager to get away from him.

Suddenly his fingers were tracing circles in between my wings. As he did, I turned to face him with every intention of slapping him or threatening him with another swift kick, but it wasn't Blitz standing behind me with a foolhardy grin. It was my dark haired mystery boy watching me intently.

"Are you two ready?" Hightower said suddenly cutting off the memory before it could get going.

I didn't move or turn, but waited, watching in confusion as the boy was replaced by Blitz again.

A hand came down on my shoulder making me jump. "It's time to go Max," Hightower said and I nearly hit him. He chuckled at my reaction. "I should know better than to sneak up on an assassin."

"Yeah, Max will take your head off," Blitz told Hightower. "That or something else," he added with a grimace.

"I see," the director replied. "Well everyone's ready to go, so we're waiting on their fearless leaders."

I nodded trying not to look overly pissed off. Leave it to a scientist to ruin a chance to figure something out. I rubbed my temples, which still throbbed violently, and walked after Hightower and Blitz.

Maybe the mystery boy was merely a delusion and yet… My dreams and visions of him seemed so real. It really didn't make sense because it would be hard to believe I'd forgotten him. Not now that I could perfectly recall every curve of his face, the gentle touch of his hands, and how could I forget the warm subtleties of his mouth on mine? I was either seriously deprived or just crazy. Either way wasn't too exciting.

A hand caught my arm roughly jerking me into a small lab off the main hall. I wrenched my arm back my hand flying to the knife clipped to my shoulder until I recognized Anne. Still I made no move to pull my hand away.

"What are you doing?" I demanded eyeing her nervous fidgeting.

"Only warning you," Anne said glancing around. "Hightower doesn't think this mission is a bad idea, but then he's a pompous old fool. He hasn't seen what I've seen between…"

Anne fell silent cutting herself off before she said something else. Something she obviously didn't want me to hear. I stood there staring into Anne's determined eyes and at the same time, wondered what my own eyes were giving away. I hadn't told anyone about my dark angel, so she couldn't know. Could she?

"Anyway, I came to tell you there are only two paths in your life. Here with us or dead. You choose," Anne finished cryptically.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said adamantly. What exactly was Anne getting at? Maybe she knew about the boy in my memories. Well, if she did, not only would I find out, but her cryptic hints would only make me hate her more than I already did.

"Ah, I see," Anne muttered. "Perhaps by some miracle I was wrong about this."

I shook my head and hurried as far away from Anne as possible. I came up behind Blitz and the rest of the squad and moved quickly to the front hoping I wasn't missed.

"What happened to you?" Blitz muttered his mouth barely moving.

"I got a little sidetracked," I replied with a slight grin. "I had to say goodbye to one of the lab techs. Thinking about him gives me goosebumps."

I glanced over at Blitz who had gone silent and completely rigid. His hands clenched into tight fists and I could only imagine Blitz was plotting the best method to find this techie and slowly murder him. Score one for my multitasking skills. I can have a headache, still harass Blitz, and go on a mission. I'm amazing I know.

"Now you all know what you have to do. Just get in and get out as quickly as possible," Hightower said in a final instruction. "Otherwise you know what must be done, so go do it."

I nodded along my jaw set at a harsh angle. Great, another two faces to haunt me behind my closed eyes. I remembered everyone I'd been forced to take down and now Doctors Batchelder and Martinez would be added to that vast array. Assassinating people was never a pleasant experience, which would be why I shut down my brain and ignored all moral instincts and conscience.

I spotted Anne among the other scientists that had gathered. I threw her a smug grin as every one of us flipped out our wings. Still, Blitz and I were the best at this. Everyone on the team besides Blitz and I, were Erasers that had also had wings grafted onto them, in order to allow us to travel faster. Unfortunately they weren't the most graceful hybrids ever created if you catch my drift. Still all of us together were a force to be reckoned with.

I glanced at Blitz who grinned back, his wings a deep gray that shone blue in the sun. He nodded at me putting on his classic aviator sunglasses that he claimed he couldn't live without. I rolled my eyes, but took a running start and leapt into the air. The wind immediately pulled our wings up and into a strong current. We would be in Arizona in no time.

***

"Are you sure that's it?" Blitz asked. We had been studying the Martinez house for the past hour, but no one had come out and no one had gone in.

"Of course it is you idiot," I retorted my patience for him wearing thin. "Do you see any other houses around?"

"Well no I don't, but…" Blitz started to argue.

"Then shut up and let's get this over with," I said smacking the back of his head with a dull thunk.

I quickly signaled with my hands to the team and each nodded back, getting ready for whatever came next.

"Let this be quick," I muttered under my breath as we moved out from our cover hiding in the trees. Yeah, like I'd be so lucky.

Unfortunately as we moved silently, perfect training had forced us to be like a shadow which was perfect for scaring Blitz at night, towards the house, a door opened. Two people came walked out, two people I easily recognized as our targets. I gulped audibly wondering if these people even knew how close to death they were standing. Blitz's hand found mine and though he meant it to be comforting, the feeling it gave me was far from it.

"Guys, why don't you come out?" one of our targets, of the Jeb Batchelder variety, said adding to my confusion.

I heard Blitz swear under his breath as ten armed guards filtered out of the house, their guns aimed through the leaves in our direction. **(A/N: Um…yeah, I don't know where they came from and since I wrote this chapter a long while ago, I'm just going to have to assume that they're friends of Jeb's… Yeah, let's go with that. Sorry…)**

"Damn, someone must have tipped them off," Raze observed. "We can't take that."

"Well, we'd have to go back to the Compound and try this again later," Blitz replied. "I think six against ten is fair odds, but what would you suggest wise leader, Max?"

"You're right, but…something's off," I answered feeling like someone had hit the pause button on the huge universal remote of the world. I sighed after a moment finally relenting. "Raze is right, let's get out of here."

I had the sinking feeling that Anne knew more than she was telling us. Maybe she was the rat, a double agent maybe? Or maybe I'd just been watching too many spy movies.

Blitz grabbed my arm and pulled me up to my feet with a shake of his head. He flipped out his wings still holding my arm as he seemed to think I would run off. He yanked me up with him as I extended my own wings. I threw him an annoyed looked and pulled my arm away. Note to self: kick Blitz every time he even thinks of touching me.

I threw a final glance backwards at the house. Oh Anne and I were going to have some serious talks when I got back. The door started to open again and I signaled to Blitz we needed to go now before the situation got even more complicated.

Oh yeah, I was ready to go. I had a feeling of dread lodged in my gut and I've always been one to trust instincts. I was all ready to hightail it out of there and never have to come back. At least until I heard something behind me.

"Max!" a voice yelled out freezing me in midair.

That voice, that unmistakable voice that haunted my dreams constantly. Suddenly my blood ran cold and my lungs refused to take in any air. It seemed as though my brain had shorted out and the weight of the world was crushing down on my lungs. My heart pounded violently in my head, its erratic drumming cutting out all other sound, as I turned around.

The boy from my dreams was real as I was. Or I had a very vivid and cruel imagination. I saw him looking up at me, his eyes confused and radiating pain even from this distance. Just looking at him sent shivers tracing my spine and my tongue seemed unable to work right. Obviously he knew me, but how did I know him? He watched me the look in his eyes unreadable, but just from his movements I could tell he was hesitant to say anything more.

"No! I said hold your fire!" I hear Jeb yell suddenly his next words drown out by a loud bang.

I was suddenly vaguely aware of a fire building in my right shoulder, but it didn't register until I saw the dark rosette, undeniably blood, that spread across my Itex jacket. What was going on?

The minutes after that were merely a blur of colors and sounds as I plummeted towards the ground. Red hot agony exploded in my head as well as my shoulder and it felt like someone was hammering a spike into my skull in an attempt to pry it open.

"Max!" someone yelled above me, Blitz maybe, diving to my rescue.

However I saw no Blitz, only the mysterious dark angel with the haunted onyx eyes. Great, my head hurt, I was shot, and now this. I quickly kicked my foot out hitting the guy in the wing feeling some satisfaction as he pulled up out of his dive swearing loudly.

I kept falling yelling as various memories of sights, smells, people, assaulted my already painful head. As I fell I found safety in the inky darkness that quickly as usual swallowed me.

***

**A/N: So there you have it! I hope you liked it enough to forgive me for taking so long. By the way, I'm sorry about the random armed dudes that showed up. Like I said, my friend and I wrote this a while ago, so I'm not quite sure what our intent was there. Also I realized while going through the next chapter that I accidentally left Total out… So if you love Total, I'm really sorry 'bout that. But there will be plenty of Fax to replace him. Also, don't forget to push Bob!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Ugh...well, I'd better get this outta the way. I'd like to say that I own the entire Flock and their souls…but I don't. I'd like to say that I own Maximum Ride entirely…but I don't. They belong to James Patterson, who is awesome and unfortunately not me. However, I do own Blitz and his squad as well as Director Markus Hightower. Their souls are mine. Steal them and I will find you…**

**A/N: So since I love all of you and because I didn't update for a while, I've decided to put up another chapter! Yay! I'm glad you all like it so far! Hopefully I can keep it up! Anyway, here's the next chapter involving the Flock and Max! *cue dramatic music* Fang does act like a jerk and Angel tries to make him calm down, but it's not his fault. Okay, well actually it is, but he will get better…eventually! Hope you like it!**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 4: Reunion**

**Fang POV**

"Max," I breathed again hardly daring to believe what I'd just seen.

"No," Jeb mumbled obviously thinking to himself. "Fang, you and Ella go inside and stay with the Flock. Valencia, come with me. As for the rest of you, get out of here. Now."

I watched, standing there dumbfounded in the front yard, as the guards left, their job finished. Except that they'd shot her, they'd shot Max. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, until Ella took my arm and led me inside. Everything inside of me, every cell, every fiber, seemed to scream that Max was alive. My hands were shaking violently as Ella pushed me onto the couch.

Glancing up at her I realized she was just as stunned as I felt. What did it mean that I'd seen with my own eyes, the girl I would've died for two years ago? Still, what would I do if, like they had done before, they had replaced her with a clone? What could I do? I doubted I could bear to hurt like that again.

"Fang!" Nudge yelled as she bolted downstairs. "Is everything okay? We heard a gunshot! Oh, but is it true? Is Max back? Cause if she is… Oh! If she is what does that mean?"

"Nudge please," Iggy said clamping his hand over her mouth as usual.

"I…I don't know," I answered honestly. I didn't want to raise the Flock's hopes only to shoot them down later.

"What do you mean you don't know? We heard you yell her name," Gasman pointed out as his fingers combed through his spiky blonde hair. "We deserve to know," he added a harsh edge to his voice.

"He's right Fang," Ella said obviously not believing me at all. "I didn't see what you saw, but I saw enough."

"You don't get it," I shot back. "I called her name, sure, but when she looked at me… When she looked at me there was zero recognition. Nothing in her eyes even suggested she knew who I was. There was nothing there."

"I'm sure there's a reason, Fang," Angel said smiling as she tried to melt the ice in my heart. She took my hand and then went on. "She's been gone a long time so you can't jump to conclusions."

I didn't move at her words, but instead I sat there lifeless and not daring to breath. If Max was who I saw and not a clone, why had she said nothing? She hadn't even tried to move towards me. What had those bastards done to her?

"You're doing it again Fang," Angel said squeezing my hand. "Jumping to conclusions," she added as I flashed her a quizzical look

I shrugged weakly and glanced around at the Flock. Angel was still watching me intently; she seemed unbearably calm for an 8 year old who had realized someone she adored had come home. I couldn't bear her scrutiny and turned away unable to speak. Nudge was sitting on the arm of the couch, her mouth miraculously shut as she studied the floor. Gasman was bouncing from one foot to another, his expression dancing from happiness to uncertainty and I couldn't blame him. Ella looked as shocked and uncomfortable from the way she threw looks at Iggy and opened her mouth, only to shut it and drop her gaze again. Iggy was straddling a chair resting his head on his hands. His face was a mix of relief and frustration.

"Of all the days to be blind," he muttered to himself, but otherwise the room was silent.

I heard a noise at the door and instantly tensed. Seven pairs of eyes, including Iggy's unseeing ones, darted expectantly towards the door. Dr. Martinez opened the door with a creaking sound and I automatically held my breath. She didn't say anything, nor did her eyes give anything away as I studied them. Jeb came in behind her, a look of exertion on his face. My eyes trailed down to the reason for his labored breathing. Held tightly in his arms, secure against his chest despite his ragged breathing, was the limp form of Maximum Ride.

"No," I choked out under my breath.

It couldn't be her, and yet it had to be. I quickly examined her features as Jeb carried her to the kitchen table. Everything seemed exactly right, both imperfection and perfection exactly where they had always been. Everything down to the characteristic frown that appeared as soon as her eyes closed. Then again, the clone had been perfect too. I wasn't satisfied with my immediate analysis.

"Yes, that's fine Jeb," Dr. Martinez was saying slowly. "Ella, I need some things from the clinic. A scalpel, stitches, bandages, etc. Got it?"

Ella nodded as I looked at Val incredulously. "What are you doing?" I heard myself whisper, a hint of anger in my voice. Why was I defensive of her when this could be a clone?

"I need to get that bullet out of her shoulder before it can cause any serious damage," she answered as I watched her pull Max's jacket off. "So unless you want me to dig it out with my fingers…"

She trailed off letting me fill in the end of her sentence for her. I just stood there tentatively watching the scene play itself out.

"Fang?" Angel asked sounding scared. "Is Max going to be okay?"

I didn't answer for a moment as I wondered if there was anything I could say. "Yeah, Ma-she'll be okay," I replied unable to say her name aloud.

"Fang, I'm going to need your help," Dr. Martinez called before Angel could respond.

I walked over slowly. My walk was a shuffling amble that reminded me of a corny zombie movie I'd watched with her and Iggy only days before they'd come. I'd moaned and followed her around the house playfully biting her once I caught her. No, I scolded my self, don't think about her. I should know better by know. All my memories of her only brought pain, there was no happiness attached to any of them. Maybe it was my own bitterness leaking into wonderful memories, I didn't know. I just knew that any one could rip the scars wide open again.

"There's no time for anesthetic, so I need you to hold her down," Dr. Martinez instructed. "Don't let her thrash around."

I obeyed putting my hands gingerly on Max's bare shoulders, Val had stripped her to a lightweight tank top beneath her jacket and shirt, not liking the way I felt like there was a current beneath my skin. I watched the scalpel gleam in the light as it dipped cutting into Max's right shoulder no more than centimeters below her collar bone. Beneath that, my eyes saw a two inch scar running parallel to her collar bone, about an inch below where the bullet had gone in. On her opposite shoulder, there was an exact double of the scar. What had caused these? I didn't have time to wonder about them long. In reaction to my hands and the biting edge of the scalpel, Max arched up off the table her hands clenching into fists. Gently, I eased her back down onto the dining room table trying not to look at her agonized expression.

"Got it," Dr. Martinez said finally. "Now I just need to stitch the incision up. I doubt there will be a scar since you all seem to heal so fast."

"Can I go?" I mumbled eyeing my hands. They were shaking and stained with Max's blood. I dropped them to my side waiting for Val's reply.

"Yes if you want, but…" she started taking one look at me before cutting off.

I turned and headed upstairs away from the scene downstairs. Her look had me wondering what my eyes had betrayed. I headed into the bathroom to wash Max's blood from my hands. I threw a wary glance at the mirror and saw what I usually saw there. Nothing had changed or had it?

None of this was real was it? I half expected to wake up and hurt because this had been so real. In fact, I was counting on it. The throb in my chest, however, thrummed back to life waiting for a chance to rip me apart. I couldn't let it get that far, I wouldn't. . I won't let it hurt, ever again.

***

"Anything?" I asked Angel as I entered Max's bedroom.

The room had been kept empty and untouched since the day she'd left. I couldn't recall the last time I'd ventured in here, the memories always kept me out just like they were threatening to do now. This room was a living memory. Max's leather jacket hung off the back of the chair in front of her desk where she'd been reading when the chopper had come. Even the book lay open to the exact page she'd stopped at.

Maybe it was because moving anything would've made her absence real or out of our own selfishness, it didn't matter. We had touched nothing. The room still smelled like Max making me uncomfortable. This wasn't a room anymore, it felt like a tomb.

"No," Angel replied laying Max's hand down. She'd been in her nearly the entire day checking Max's memories and reassuring me she was the real deal and not a clone. I had almost been praying she was a clone to make this less complicated. "Don't think that."

"Sorry," I replied unable to help it.

"All I can get are erratic flashes of things. Most don't mean anything to me though," Angel grimaced turning back to Max.

"What is it?" I asked softly. After Max had left, I'd become extremely close and protective of Angel where as before I'd left it up to our fearless leader.

"Her nightmares," Angel said simply as if that explained everything. "It doesn't matter, she's not a clone. She's just Max. Anyway, I'll let you have a sec."

"Angel, wait don't…" I started watching her shut the door behind her.

I stood beside the door wanting to bolt. Hesitantly I moved next to the bed watching her sleep on. Without her, the Flock had nearly fallen apart starting with me. I had left to search for her and almost hadn't come back. Still, she seemed the same as always, so why did this feel so awkward?

"I haven't been able to breath since you left," I said unsure why I was confessing this to her. "I still can't."

Max shifted in her sleep startling me out of my trance next to her. My heart seemed like an old engine as it tried to start. I ignored its stuttering attempts to resume beating and I turned to leave. I looked back watching as a "nightmare" as Angel had called them took over. Max thrashed about for a moment and it took every ounce of self control I had to stay where I was instead of rushing to her side. It took even more not to move as she called out.

"No, please," she screamed making me tremble. "You can't! They didn't do anything!"

"What happened to you?" I heard myself mutter under my breath. I didn't expect any answer, and I wasn't amazed as Max sunk back into the sheets. I had a feeling that things were about to get interesting.

***

**A/N: Another chapter finished! I hope you like this one! I'm sorry if Fang seemed kinda like a jerk, but he will get better. If you think about it, he has to be a jerk because that's just his personality. He doesn't do scared, so instead he being closed off and pissed about it. Not the best approach, but that's Fang for you. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing what you think so please let me know! ****By the way, Bob says to tell you that he loves you all especially when you push him!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Ugh...well, I'd better get this outta the way. I'd like to say that I own the entire Flock and their souls…but I don't. I'd like to say that I own Maximum Ride entirely…but I don't. They belong to James Patterson, who is awesome and unfortunately not me. However, I do own Blitz and his squad as well as Director Markus Hightower. Their souls are mine. Steal them and I will find you…**

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter five! Max speaks to Fang and Fang, well…is Fang as usual! Haha! It's a little shorter, okay, a lot shorter than the other chapters, so I'm sorry in advance. Still, I hope you like this one despite it shortness and the chapter's will get longer. I just really liked this one and couldn't bring myself to not put it in here! By the way, I love all you guys who review! It makes me feel good when I read all the reviews! Enjoy!** **Oh and just so you know, italics are usually memories, unless I say otherwise! **

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 5: Misconceptions**

**Max POV **

_When I can finally see something again, I'm surrounded by people I don't know. Well, not counting wonder boy. As far as I can tell we're on the side of a mountain thick with wild strawberries. A little girl tugs on my hand as I put a strawberry in my mouth._

_"Hey Max," she chirps her blonde curls bouncing around her face. "If you make cake, I can make strawberry shortcakes."_

_"Yeah, that'll be the day when Max makes a cake," a tall kid, who seems to have something up with his eyes says as I leap to my feet. The image fades out as I threaten him with his life. _

_This is all like some twisted movie, but of someone else's life. None of this has happened to me before. None of it makes sense. _

_The next moments are flashes and blurs of color and light. Nothing is as clear as the strawberries and the little girl who my mind seems desperate to remember. Suddenly there's only a white room that looks a lot like the Compound. A man is standing in front of me that I finally recognize. Jeb Batchelder. I suddenly feel the distinct urge to attack him, to make him suffer like I'm suffering. He's nothing but a traitor and I hate him. He's one of them now, I think, a whitecoat, whatever that means._

_"I can't explain now Max, but you need to know," he says his eyes explaining nothing. "This is all a test. Your destiny is much greater."_

My eyes snapped open and for a moment I think I'm back at the Compound. My head spun as I sat up and I put a hand to my forehead feeling the heat radiating from it. Great, a fever complicates things quite a bit. I glanced around recognizing nothing. I noted that I was no longer wearing my Itex stuff, but a tank top and sweats I don't recognize. Waking up in a strange place? Bad. Waking up in a strange place sick? Worse. Waking up in a strange place in someone else's clothing? Worst possible scenario. Please just kill me now.

My shoulder was throbbing violently, and I glanced down finally noticing the thick, white gauze that was wrapped around it. I vaguely remember something about being shot, but my feverish mind couldn't recall why. Slowly, I pulled the gauze back from my shoulder with shaking fingers. The hole in my shoulder confirms that I was shot; luckily it's already starting to heal, though it still hurts. I replaced the bandages, trying not to cry out as my fingers brushed against the hole.

The sheets were hot and sticky, and they clung to my bare arms. I struggled to get up and stumbled to the door. _I have to get out. _The thought echoes in my head chasing itself in circles that are infinitely more important than the hole in my shoulder. I had to go, had to get out before they realized anything. My legs shook unsteadily and threatened to give out as I balanced precariously on them. The room seemed to tilt onto its side making me feel like hurling across the tan carpet. I slowly shuffled towards the door taking gulps of air as I maneuvered into the hallway.

I fell forward slamming into the wall opposite my door as my concentration slipped for a second. So much for staying quiet, some assassin I make huh? My legs felt like jello and refused to obey my will. I closed my eyes leaning against the cool wall trying to form a plan. The best quality about an assassin was the ability to think on your feet, to change plans as necessarily and as quickly as possible. Still, it was hard to think with my fevered mind and somehow, I didn't think any assassin had tried it quite like this. I opened my eyes ready to try this again. I got about two steps before the hall spun and the carpet lurched up to meet me.

Or would have if two strong hands hadn't caught me in midfall. Once my eyes managed to focus, I looked up into the onyx eyes I'd seen one to many times already. I tried to demand he let me go, but only managed a garbled groan.

He pulled me up not saying anything either. Though he easily held me up, I tried to lean against his muscular frame. My escape wasn't forgotten, it just suddenly seemed less important than finding out what was going on with him. Fine, I compromised; I'd stay long enough to sort this out.

Suddenly he tensed holding me out away from him. I winced as his eyes hardened, going from the warm onyx I'd seen in the memory of the cave to the color of ice cold steel. For the briefest moment, I had seen something else in his eyes. Something that didn't stay long enough for me to figure out just what it was.

"I can't…stay…" I started trying to speak again.

"You're not going anywhere," he replied no emotion in his voice.

None of this was making sense. In my memories, he had seemed protective of me. Now he was cold, distant, and angry. Angry with me? I didn't know. The scowl on his face told me he could barely stand touching me now.

"Watch me," I retorted using my anger to swing a punch at him. My reflexes were sluggish and I didn't expect to hit him. Something in the back of my mind told me I didn't want to.

He grabbed my easily stopping it. "You have no idea who I am do you?"

"No, I don't," I answered trying in vain to pull away. I watched his face fall slightly before his icy composure returned, the lines of his face harsher than before. "I did once, though, didn't I?"

"Yes," he replied shortly.

"I can't remember you, but," I said giving up on fighting him as he held me tightly, "I can't forget you completely either."

"It's Fang," he said hesitantly since it was obviously against his better judgment.

"Fa…"I started unable to finish as my head exploded again.

"Well, the brain attacks haven't changed," I heard him mutter under his breath and I felt his hands swing me up into his arms, but by then another painful memory was in full swing.

_"She's taking my place," I hear myself say._

_Fang shrugs, "You're a fighter, not a mom."_

_"What I can't be both? Am I not girly enough?" I shoot back eyeing him._

_"As I remember you're plenty girly enough," he replies though I have no clue what he means._

This incoherent memory is immediately replaced by another equally confusing scene.

_"Pick a tree and I'll go carve our initials in it," Fang says now standing next to me grinning broadly as he points out the window at some trees._

Then the memory dissolves and the onslaught is over leaving only a throbbing pain behind. I'm suspended in darkness haunted by faces I can't forget, faces I'll never forget. I almost preferred the painful memories. Almost…

***

**A/N: Like I said, it was really short, but it was still good right? I hope it all makes sense, if not, just let me know. Anyway, don't forget to tell me what you think aka push Bob! Reviews make me update faster and I love reading your reviews! So don't forget to leave me one so I know what I can do better and what you guys liked! **

**~lightNdarkangel **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Ugh...well, I'd better get this outta the way. I'd like to say that I own the entire Flock and their souls…but I don't. I'd like to say that I own Maximum Ride entirely…but I don't. They belong to James Patterson, who is awesome and unfortunately not me. However, I do own Blitz and his squad as well as Director Markus Hightower. Their souls are mine. Steal them and I will find you…**

**A/N: Hee! Another chappie in one day! I felt bad because the last one was really, really short, so I'm putting this one up too! Plus, Bob said I should so that more people will push him and I'm a sucker when it comes to Bob. Anyway, I didn't like this chapter at first and thought about getting rid of it, but I don't know if I can, so I won't and you guys can be the jury. I wrote this as a little glimpse into Max's life as an assassin, which reminds me that I'd better give you a head's up about Angel's new "talent." It's hard to explain, but it serves its purpose and you'll see why. I think it makes sense…kinda. You'll have to be the judge of that. So please let me know what you think!**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 6: Out of Body Experiences**

**Third Person POV**

"So Jeb, what do you think?" Valencia Martinez asked as they climbed the stairs to their daughter's room.

"It is Max," Jeb said slowly unsure himself. "It's just hard to figure anything else out without just asking her."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Val replied her heart racing. She hadn't seen Max for two years, but she'd never lost hope. It had faltered once or twice, but she'd never completely lost it. "Too many questions might not be good. You saw the way she looked at Fang. She didn't know him and given the reason she came here, she doesn't know us either."

"I know. It's possible they altered certain regions of her brain and deleted memories of her past, but there's no way to know for certain," Jeb said with a grim look. "God only knows what else they did to her."

"They can alter memory?" Dr. Martinez asked incredulously.

"They can and they have many times before," Jeb said slowly. "When I worked for them, I helped… I have no idea what new techniques they've developed now."

Val swallowed the rising lump in her throat as contempt filled her gut. Those scientists had treated her daughter like nothing more than a piece of common trash. It was about more than she could take. If she ever got her hands on any of them, there would be hell to pay.

With a deep breath she opened the door to Max's room, something she hadn't done in over a year. It was something she had missed, that and the talks she'd enjoyed with Max. Angel sat dutifully next to Max's sleeping, motionless form. After Fang had caught her in the hall last night, she'd been passed out up here. Not that anyone could blame her for it.

"Hey Angel," Jeb smiled his voice a whisper. "Anything odd?"

"Well there were a few flashes of old memories, but that was about it," Angel said although Dr. Martinez noticed the nervous twitch to her hands.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Val asked sitting next to Angel and putting her arms around her. Angel was trembling slightly and it wasn't from the cold air in the room.

"Max's nightmares…they're horrible," Angel mumbled on the verge of tears. "They made her do things and she didn't want to, but…"

"What did they make her do?" Jeb asked his tone full of fatherly concern. Although only Max was his actual child, after Ari died Jeb had become a father to them all again, though it had taken time.

"I can't…" Angel said lost in thought. "Maybe if I show you."

"Are you sure that's…" Val started falling silent at Angel's expression.

"Max is hurting and I've seen it. I can't sit here and do nothing," Angel said glancing at Max.

Jeb nodded slowly as Angel took both his and Valencia's hands and then using her other hand touched her fingertips to Max's hand. Val sucked in a breath, Angel's powers were amazing and at the same time scary. Still, she buried the fear telling herself she had to help Max. Max shifted slightly as Angel's fingers touched her, but she didn't wake up.

"Hold on," Angel said with a weak smile making Val nervous.

She didn't have much time to wonder what it was that made Angel tremble as Max's nightmares took over revealing a piece of the last two years as the torturous prison it had been. It was like watching a movie from the main characters point of view as Max's memories took over.

_I'm standing in front of a huge oak door, one I've seen so many times as I memorized the house. The man I've come to kill is one of the ones responsible for last weeks escape from the Compound. If anything, he should've seen this coming. Itex doesn't stand for failures._

_He opens the door and smiles warmly at me. He doesn't suspect anything, but why should he? He helped make me what I am; now I'm his executioner. Ironic I know._

_"Max," he says looking surprised to see me._

_"Is R.J. here?" I ask for his son even though I already know the answer. R.J. was purposely kept at the Compound late today, he won't be home._

_"No, but he should be home in about ten minutes," he says warmly. "You two have something you're working on?"_

_"Sort of," I answer walking into the house._

_"I figured. R.J.'s been going on about some new project," he laughs not realizing anything. _

_I smile following him inside fingering the combat knife clipped on my belt at my lower back. It's easily concealed behind my jacket and easily accessible._

_"Do you want a drink or anything?" he asks gesturing to the kitchen._

_"Sure," I nod trailing behind him._

_No one else is home, I know that. I also know that because of that fact, Dr. Jack Coving will never see his family again. Turning his back to me to get a glass is the last thing he'll ever do. No, screwing up was the last move he made. Since then he's been a dead man walking. _

_"I know there are clean cups somewhere up here," he's rambling on. He doesn't suspect a thing and he won't until it's too late._

_I step up behind him contemplating several methods I could use. The only instructions that Hightower gave me were to make it look accidental. I guess that limits me from using my knife. I'll have to improvise. I step up behind him my hands twitching nervously. Before he can turn I grab him covering his mouth. _

_"This is for screwing up," I whisper listening to his muted cries. They fade to a gurgling in his throat as the pressure of my hand slowly crushes his windpipe. "Itex doesn't tolerate failure."_

_I watch his eyes as the light dawns just before I put it out with a sharp cracking motion. I calmly drag his limp body to the stairs, positioning him in at the right angle. The point is to make it look like he had an unfortunate accident. Darting up the stairs I find what I'm looking for. A small bottle of Ambien sleeping pills sits on the bathroom counter. Maybe Dr. Coving took one to many and then tripped down the stairs. At least that's the assumption I have to make sure everyone else comes to. _

_I unscrew the lid and scatter some of the pills down the staircase before leaving the bottle next to Jack's lifeless form. Going back to the kitchen I fill a glass of water partially full and take it back to the stairs. I shatter it next to the ex-employee of Itex and then eye my handiwork. I don't have to worry about fingerprints or anything because technically I don't have any. Hightower made sure of that. _

_With one more quick scan of everything, I head for the door just as R.J. pulls into the drive. I wait a moment letting him pull into the garage before leaving the house without even glancing back. Tomorrow I'll have to face R.J. and tell him I'm sorry. He'll never know the difference when I face him and pretend to feel sad for him. I can fake it pretty well, but I know better. I won't feel anything._

The final image faded away and Jeb, Dr. Martinez, and Angel were once again in Max's room. A thick silence had settled on the room, undisturbed except for Max's quick breathing.

"See?" Angel asked finally. "All her dreams are like that. She turns off all emotion and feeling just to appease them."

"No matter what happens," Val started her jaw set, "we're not letting her go back to that place. I'm not letting them use my daughter for their purposes."

"Amen," Jeb shuddered.

"What're you…?" Fang asked appearing at the door his question dying halfway. He shot a glare at Jeb. "Angel, are you okay?"  
"I'm okay," Angel said walking shakily over to Fang. Ever since Max had left, Angel and he had grown amazingly close. Val figured because out of everyone, the two of them were hurting the most. Whenever Angel was down, Fang was there as comfort and vice versa.

"I'll stay here tonight," Fang replied in a steely tone. "You can sleep in your own room."

Angel nodded throwing a final glance over her shoulder with a shiver. "She's hurting just a badly as us, Fang," she mumbled before heading out of the room.

"What's going on?" Fang questioned his worried demeanor falling away as soon as Angel was gone. It was immediately replaced by the angry distant look that Val knew all too well.

"Max's memories," Jeb answered. "Apparently the last two years have been a struggle. She did things that went against everything moral she'd ever developed. I honestly don't see her opening up anytime soon."

"I'd suggest we just keep an eye on her and avoid too many questions," Val added watching as Fang's eyes locked on Max. She'd expected him to be happier now, but instead he'd become more guarded and angry, if that was possible for Mr. Mood Swings.

She squeezed his shoulder before heading after Jeb and leaving Fang with his own haunting memories.

***

**A/N: So there you have it! I hope it was okay, because I'm still kinda iffy on this chapter... Anyway, in case you weren't sure, Angel's new talent is more a less just a branch off of her mind reading skills. She touches you, and then touches someone else, and they can see your thoughts. Creepy? Yeah probably. Useful? Heck to the yes. So I hope that it wasn't too bizarre or completely stupid. As always, please push Bob and let me know what you think. I'd really like to hear your thoughts! Oh and just so we're clear, in case you were wondering why Max hates being an assassin when she can't remember any different, it's because Hightower might have erased her memory, but not her personality and we all know what Max's personality is like. So yeah. Anyway, push Bob and I promise that there will be Fax, just hang in there with me!! **

**~lightNdarkangel **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, I know I promised some Fax, but I have to say that I lied…*waits for things to be thrown at me* Well, I didn't lie, I just haven't gotten to it…yet. I'm trying to get there I promise! **

**Blitz: Liar…**

**Me: Shut up! Don't forget that I own you and I can kill you off anytime I wish.**

**Blitz: Oh yeah…but I own this knife and Max!**

**Me: *sigh* No, Blitz, you don't.**

**Blitz: But why? I could always just kill Fang!**

**Me: How about no? Just tell the nice people what I told you so they can get on with the story m'kay? **

**Blitz: Fine, whatever… Kenzie does not own Maximum Ride, James Patterson does… She only owns me and Hightower… Wait, so does that mean that you work for Itex since you invented me? 'Cause that's creepy, and why don't you ever let Itex win then?**

**Me: No, Blitz! I don't work for Itex, now shut up and go elsewhere for a while before I kill you off. Or let Max do it… Now, on with the story!**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 7: A Not So Happy Homecoming**

Blitz was angry. He was quickly escalating beyond that, if it was possible. All of his trouble revolved around a certain hybrid who just happened to be MIA. Still his anger was directed at himself not her. He never could bring himself to hate her though he should.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Max?" Blitz asked the silent air knowing he'd gone too far outside of their search perimeter.

He'd seen Max fall and yet she had vanished completely. Right now Blitz just wished they'd never come on this mission. Yeah, and he also wished Max would love him back and since he couldn't change the past, neither wish seemed likely to come true at this moment.

If only he could get Max to see his true potential, the real reason they called him Blitzkrieg. Unfortunately he knew she wouldn't. She was just as stubborn as he was. She was also the only one who'd even told his no, the only one who'd rejected his fire and passion. Still that had only made him want her more. After all forbidden fruit is by far the sweetest.

Besides he was far better than the weirdo he'd read about in a file he'd found lying about on Max. She'd called the guy's name in her sleep and woken up oblivious and he wasn't about to tell her. Actually, Blitz had never known Max to be oblivious. In the time he'd known her, she'd been cool and quiet, mostly keeping to herself. That had made him want to understand her, made him wish she'd open up to him.

"Blitz, there's still no sign and we've been at it for hours," Raze said interrupting Blitz's contemplative thoughts. "If anything she probably woke up alone and injured and went back to the Compound."

"Yeah, probably relaxing in relative bliss under Hightower's watch while we search in the mud," Switch added with a growl. "Let's go back man."

"I don't think it's wise to talk about her like that," Blitz said angrily. "I might use it against you."

Still even as Switch flinched away, Blitz was thinking about what he said. He mentally weighed the options while simultaneously chewing his lip. He'd always wanted leader position, but now with the weight of it on his winged shoulders, he was changing his mind. If he went back and Max was there everything would be fine and they could retry the mission later. On the other hand, if she wasn't…he shuddered imagining what Hightower might do to him. So either he'd be making the best decision or doing the most dumb butt thing possible. His odds weren't great.

Either way they weren't getting anywhere out here searching. "All right, let's get back and talk to Hightower," he said trying to sound wise. "Fingers crossed guys, fingers crossed."

***

Finally after days of being in endless darkness, I opened my eyes to bright sunlight filtering through the window. My head wasn't throbbing like it was before and I could actually think straight. Kind of…

If I could think straight, I wouldn't be here still. I'd have gotten the heck out of here the second I got an opportunity. _But you don't want to leave, _my subconscious says randomly. _You're interested by this Fang, and you want to know him like you did back then._

"I just want to make some sense of all this," I mutter in quiet response to myself.

At the moment, nothing made any sense. I was related to Dr. Martinez and Dr. Batchelder as well as Ella. I wasn't blood related to Angel, Fang, or the rest of the Flock, but I did feel closer to them. Heck, apparently I'd been through hell and back to get them safely here two years ago. I'd even traded all my memories for their freedom, not that I could remember doing so. It was more or less an information overload. No wonder my headaches have been acting up. Remembering a lifetime is hard work.

Still out of all of this, Fang made the least sense. If my memories were to be believed Fang and I had been…had been what? We'd always been close, but never together. He'd tried and I'd pushed him away, I think. Now despite the things Angel had told me about him, he'd become extremely distant. He'd done exactly what I had done at the Compound by putting up barriers that no one could get through. I'd done that and gone so far as to numb myself to Blitz's constant affection. So you can why it was such a shock to my system to realize that I had once had a heart. That I'd once loved without being afraid of dying the next day or rather knowing I might die the next day had made it that much better.

"Hey! You're finally awake!" a blonde girl I vaguely recognized chirped bounding into the room with a huge grin pasted across her features. "I was starting to think you'd slipped into a coma or something."

Wouldn't that be nice? At least in a coma, I wouldn't have to figure out what was going on around here.

"Anyway, Mom figured you would want a shower when you woke up so she made sure there's plenty of hot water for you," she said with a grin. "It's Angel by the way, in case you were wondering."

"Mom?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Well, technically she's your mom, but I call her that too," Angel said with a grin. "That's Dr. Martinez by the way."

"How long have I been here?" I asked trying to ignore the fact that I'd almost killed my mom. I sat there absent mindedly wondering why Blitz hadn't busted in here all gung ho to save me. I wonder if Fang would've even bothered to stop him.

"Well, you've been out for three days, more or less," Angel said thoughtfully. "You woke up almost in time for dinner."

Three days? This news floored me. And here I was under the impression that Blitz's love was undying and he'd go to any length to save me. Yeah right. Still it was weird that Hightower hadn't sent a search party, me being his favorite and all. Unless Blitz hadn't told him yet, which would be like him. Maybe Blitz hadn't even gone back yet and he still thought I was out wandering somewhere injured and praying for him. That jerk.

"Is Blitz someone from the Compound?" Angel asked suddenly watching me with curiosity filling her eyes.

"How'd…" I trailed off at her sheepish smile.

"I can read minds remem…oh right," she said her tone apologetic. "I forget you don't remember this stuff. We've all got special little quirks. I can read minds, Gazzy copies voices, etc."

"Oh, yeah well, he was my second in command," I said simply turning away from her inquisitive gaze. It was weird telling this little girl things that I'd normally tell to no one.

"That's weird," she giggled.

"What is?" I asked having no clue what she meant.

"I didn't think you could stand to have anyone besides Fang as your second," she grinned taking my hand and tracing my scars.

"I doubt that," I muttered watching her fingers run patterns along the back of my hand.

"Why?" she asked innocently as I bit my lip not sure how to respond.

"He doesn't even speak to me," I said taking a deep breath. "Hell, he can't stand me."

Angel sat still the look on her face determined. We sat in silence for a few minutes before she said anything more.

"Fang has," she started searching for the right words, "more or less decided that hope doesn't exist. When we were finally safe here with your mom he was ecstatic. He just figured he would have all the time in the world to make himself the man you wanted, but shortly after we all thought we were safe…we lost you. Even though you went as a willing hostage, he blamed himself. Then just when he'd started to smooth over some of his worst wounds, though most of them were still bleeding anyway, you came back. He was elated again, only to find out that you didn't remember anything. To him that was like a final slap in the face by fate or whatever."

"So if he ignores me, he can stay closed off and keep his pain to a minimum," I sighed.

"It's backwards thinking, but it's how Fang does everything," Angel said. "Maybe he just needs a jog to his memory too."

"I think I'd like that shower now," I said changing the subject away from Fang.

"Max," Angel said watching me intently.

"Don't worry Angel, I just need a minute to think," I said with a weak smile.

"Weird, sometimes you sound so much like your old self," she smiled at me. "Oh, Max!" she called after me. I stopped and turned back to face her. "I missed you."

I gave her another half hearted smile and grabbed the towel she had brought me and walked down the hall towards the bathroom. _Oh Angel, _I thought to myself. _If only you knew just how much of this was faked. I don't want it be, but…_

But what? The assassin part of me might kill you so I don't dare get close? No, I just really didn't want her to see the twisted mentality they'd given me. It wasn't only my body they'd scarred…

And scarred it was, I noticed as I stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Small, insignificant marks ran the length of my arms and legs, but several in particular caught my eye. The twin two inches scars that ran exactly perpendicular to my collar bone were a jarring reminder of past experiences. An experience I didn't care to recall. That and the six inch incision along my hip bone where a piece of shrapnel had been imbedded. We'd been blowing up a building in South America that was threatening to overthrow Itex. Everything had been routine up until Blitz had set the timer with too short a time before it exploded. We'd been to close to the blast and of course I would be the one who gets hit by shrapnel while Blitz gets off home free. Hightower had about killed Blitz when we'd gotten back.

Yeah, the scars were of some of the worst times at the Compound and yet they were some of my only memories. The only other memories were of killing people for Hightower and learning to enjoy it. Despite the warm water that was spilling from the showerhead, this fact made me shiver.

No wonder Fang hated me. I'd become the very personification of evil to him. I worked for Itex and now that made me one of them. One of the very jerk offs who'd stolen his freedom. Well, buddy boy they'd taken my humanity, but I was at least trying. I wanted him to see that there was more to me. Not because I had anything to prove and not because he'd shared anything with me, but because I at least wanted the reason why he couldn't stand to be around me. I wanted him to see more to me and realize I was trying, which was weird. Why did I care so much about him? Why was him speaking to me so important? I had no idea.

Even without him, though, all of the Flock had acted like I'd never been gone as they went about their normal routines. It was hard to believe that I'd been a part of any of this. At the Compound things were so cold and distant.

Maybe I could stay. At least long enough to understand. Blitz could wait. I was finding myself.

***

"You did what?" Hightower screamed at an extremely agitated Blitz.

"It's not like we had much choice," Blitz shot back in low tones. "We looked everywhere, but there was no sign to suggest…"

"I don't care about signs, Blitz!" Hightower retorted. "I need results and I can't get those results without Max."

"I'm still here," Blitz growled.

Hightower went on like Blitz hadn't spoken. "Do you know what Max is worth to me? I spent the last two years creating the perfect assassin and you destroyed it in ten measly minutes."

"I love Max too, but…" Blitz tried again.

"What makes you think that matters?" Hightower said in a mocking tone. "Your love won't bring her back home where she belongs."

"Watch it," he muttered fingering his sunglasses.

"Regardless, you have five minutes to prepare a team and go back," the Director said dryly. "No more screw ups this time. Your incompetence is becoming quite taxing and you might just pay for it."

Blitz spun on his heel and marched away to find the team. He'd show Hightower. He cared about Max and this fact alone would bring her home with him. If it didn't, he'd use any force necessary.

"What's up Blitz?" Switch called eyeing his squad mate's deadly expression.

"We're leaving again," he replied in a low growl.

"When?" Kyle asked appearing behind Switch.

"Now," Blitz answered coldly. As soon as he found Max, he'd kill anyone he had to just to have her. Even if that meant Hightower. He would take her off on their own away from his personal hell. She'd have to love him then.

***

**A/N: Now I promise that the next chapters will be leading up to some major Fax! Basically, there will be a chapter of pure Fax coming, but I need to work up to it first. So hold on! There will be so much Fax; it's possible to drown in it so it will make up for these first chapters I swear! **

**Blitz: Fax makes me nauseous…**

**Me: Thank you Blitz…*looks irritated* As always, if you have any ideas that I could use, please let me know! Remember that I love constructive criticism! In fact, I need it so please push Bob and leave some!**

**Blitz: Tell her how much you love me and how you think I should win! 'Cause you know you do!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Wow… I am sorry. I haven't updated in a while! Sharp intake of breath, GASP! Stupid school has me working on various assignments and then I got the stomach flu and yeah… **

**Blitz: Sure, that's what they all say.**

**Me: Don't make me cough on you.**

**Blitz: Eww…**

**Me: I thought you didn't believe me.**

**Blitz: I don't… I just don't want to ruin my image.**

**Me: Yeah. You believe that. Anyway, moving on. This chapter is just leading up to the Fax… Sad I know, but soon we'll be there.**

**Blitz: I'm not in this chapter. That's lame.**

**Me: Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Omelets and Disasters**

The next morning, I headed slowly up the stairs a sigh on my lips. I still didn't get why I couldn't just yell to Max and Angel that breakfast was ready, but Val had insisted I go up the stairs all the way. Go figure. Anytime she needed someone to get Max or give her something, guess who got sent. I had already made three trips up the stairs only to get sent back down by Angel three times.

"How're you feeling today?" I can hear Angel ask. No response, or if there was I couldn't hear it.

Angel had been upstairs all morning waiting for Max to wake up and now she was silent or at least sticking to one word answers. Imagine that. _You might not be so talkative either, buddy boy, _my conscious reprimanded even as I shoved it away.

"We're having breakfast in ten minutes or so," Angel continued as I paused outside the bedroom door. "If you're hungry don't worry, there's always tons of food. I don't think we even eat it all. Don't worry about anything."

I finally opened the door and saw Angel spinning on Max's desk chair. Sunlight was flooding the room and across Max's bed. I looked up to see Max watching me intently, though her gaze quickly dropped to her hands.

"Hi Fang," Angel chirped noticing me in the doorway.

"Uh hey, breakfast is ready," I muttered trying not to look at Max. My heart simultaneously shuddered alive with ache and hope at the same time. If that's possible…

"Thanks," Angel said. "Hey Max, your mom makes the best omelets. You are coming down right?"

"I…uh…" Max stuttered glancing up at me.

I stood there my eyes focused out the window looking glazed and impassive. Max looked back at Angel with a quick nod. She never had been able to resist Angel and even though she was barely remembering her, she still couldn't.

"We'll be down in a sec Fang," Angel said apparently trying to get rid of me. A notion I was all too willing to please.

"Okay," I replied turning to leave.

As I trudged back down the stairs, I mentally shivered. The weird feeling I got around Max was making it extremely hard to be the cold, detached figure I meant to be. I still couldn't quite calm down my senses whenever I went up to see her. My heart, I guess, was making it especially hard for my brain to ignore the facts. No matter what I did, it still tried to convince my brain to let down the walls and let Max back in. My brain, however, wasn't going to let it happen.

"Is Max coming down?" Nudge asked interrupting my thought process. "Oh I hoe so. I wonder where she's been for two years. Do you think…"

"Nudge, I don't think Max wants to be bombarded with questions just yet," Val laughed cutting Nudge off before she could really get going.

"Don't worry, I've got questions too, but I've got to hold them in just as much as you," Ella said giving Nudge a grin.

"Well, none of us know exactly what she's been put through," Jeb added setting butter on the table.

"I know, Lord of Boring," Ella shrugged pantomiming a noose around her neck as soon as Jeb was gone. "He's going to kill me someday…"

"Bore you to death?" Nudge laughed elbowing Ella in the ribs.

"Smells good!" Angel said leaping down the stairs three at a time. She glanced once at me and then behind her. I tried to ignore her as she darted back to the top. "It's okay, come on."

Angel returned at the bottom of the stairs with Max trailing behind her. Max shuffled from foot to foot as she toyed with the drawstring on her pajamas.

"Morning girls," Jeb said bringing out a plate of muffins.

Here I was trying to be distant and yet this whole thing seemed like a scene from the past. Well, except for the way Max was idly chewing her lip. I have never in my entire life seen her nervous. I've seen her pissed, I've seen her cry, and I've seen her ecstatic, but even when we were being hunted by Erasers, she never acted like a nervous wreck. Half the time I figured she was only putting up a good front for the rest of us, but I have to say she did a good job of it. With a sigh I sank into my chair.

"I better get a muffin," Iggy called from the stairs. I glanced at Gazzy who chuckled mischievously as he tried to hide the muffins.

Iggy had the house memorized as much as he'd had our old house. Still if someone unwittingly stood in front of the stairs there could be issues, which happened to be exactly where an extremely wary Max stood.

"Oh sorry, my bad…" Iggy started as he rammed into Max.

In the blink of an eye, Max had ducked around behind Iggy and was now standing with her hands hovering around his neck. I jerked to my feet, holding my breath. Nearly everyone in the room was silent, all eyes trained on Max and Iggy. I noticed a feral, predatory glint in Max's normally calm brown eyes. The look on her face was one I'd seen on a tiger that had been cornered for rabies vaccination on an Animal Planet special Gazzy had been watching. Suddenly Max caught my eye and the predatory desperation faded as she lowered her hands slowly.

"Right…someone want to fill the blind kid in?" Iggy asked.

Ella stood up and pushed past Iggy. In the silence, Max had headed back up the stairs towards the safety of her room. Unfortunately, Ella wasn't going to let it happen. Ella caught Max's arm and whispered something to her as she lead her back to the table. I could tell it was killing Ella not to jump on Max and hug her.

Max sat across from me and it didn't escape my notice how her eyes never met mine. She seemed focused on trying to pick out the faults in the china plate set out in front of her. Her right shoulder was still bandaged and she noticeably favored that arm, but on her opposite shoulder was a strange scar. It was a straight pink like only about two inches long, but I had never noticed it before. I opened my mouth to ask, but Angel caught my gaze and slightly shook her head.

Unfortunately, Nudge hadn't seen Angel shake her head in warning to me. Five minutes later, once everyone had their mouths full and were unable to stop her, Nudge opened her mouth.

"So Max," she said through mouthfuls of omelet. "Where'd that scar come from?"

I tensed as Nudge pointed out the scar Angel had warned me away from. An audible tension filled the room as Max opened her mouth, still keeping her eyes down.

"I didn't cooperate, end of story," she said solemnly.

Even though she didn't look up, I saw the fire in her eyes. Obviously there was more to the story than she was telling. Angel and Max were the only two who knew and I didn't expect Angel to just tell me. Still I wasn't going to ask Max just to satisfy my curiosity either.

"Oh," Nudge said falling silent.

"Huh… Will someone pass me the salt?" Gazzy asked breaking the choking silence.

The rest of breakfast, unfortunately, didn't go any better.

***

**A/N: Yes, I realize that it's short and yes, I realize it's not the best chapter ever written in the history of man, but since this is basically just a filler chapter, cut me some slack. I'm excited to get to the good parts, but sadly I have to include a few chapters to further the plot. Just hang on! I promise we're getting somewhere!**

**Blitz: And remember to review. I make Kenzie read them all whether she wants to or not. *cue evil laughter***

**Me: Wow, very diabolical, Blitz, but he's right! Please review! I want to know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter! I know there isn't any Fax in this one, well unless you count arguing as romance, then there you go. However, chapter 10 has a flood of it, so I figure it makes up for it. I'm not leading you astray this time I promise. So enjoy and don't forget to review afterwards! **

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 9: Confrontation**

After breakfast, I had quickly retreated to my room wanting to disappear. Yet the open window didn't seem quite as inviting as before. Part of me was glad they were holding back their onslaught of questions, but another half wished they'd just get it over with.

I threw some clothes on, tucking my assassin gear in a bottom drawer of the dresser. I sighed studying it before I closed the drawer. I wasn't sure which life was more mine now. The assassin part or this new part I had lived in before, but didn't remember? There were no easy answers.

I slid the drawer shut and stood up looking around the room. Nothing had been touched for a while in here making it feel more like a tomb, rather than my old room. A few framed pictures on the desk caught my attention. I picked them up, sitting on the bed to look through them. The first was a picture of everyone who'd been downstairs including me. I frowned as I looked at the picture. I hardly recognized the Max grinned out at me from the photo. I mean my hair was still the same, my height, so on and so forth, but the difference was in the expression. Sincere smiles were hard to drag out of my, Blitz would admit that much, and even then the smiles now never touched my eyes. It was a sharp contrast to the photo in my hand.

The next picture was me and the little girl, Angel. My arms were wrapped around her and both of us were grinning happily. I silently wished I could remember the memories attached to the picture, but nothing hit me like before. The next picture nearly floored me and I almost dropped it in disbelief. Fang and I were standing next to each other, his arm protectively around my shoulder and something close to a smile tugged at his mouth. There was something different in his eyes, something that was clearly gone now. This was the boy in my memory of the cave, not the distant guy downstairs, so where had he gone? I knew the answer well enough.

"That's because a part of him died when you left," Angel said appearing at the door.

"How'd…" I cut off remembering what she'd told me before. "Right, you're a mind reader."

"Bingo," she said smiled. "Don't worry; I don't usually spy on anyone's thoughts. You used to get mad at me and now Fang does, so I stopped doing it."

"Oh," I replied looking back at the picture in my hand. _How deeply had we cared for each other? _I wondered looking to the picture as if it held the answers.

"I…I just really missed you Max," Angel said rushing over and before I could protest, she threw her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek.

With a quick smile my direction, she dashed out of the room again leaving me stunned. Behind her came Dr. Martinez's daughter, Ella I think, with a smile.

"So were you planning on staying in her the entire time or did you want to see the rest of the house?" she asked leaning against the door frame. "I suppose I could even give you a tour."

I bit my lip wondering why she was asking. After what I'd done to Iggy… Some habits from the Compound were harder to break than others. I nodded and rose to my feet, following her with slight reluctance.

"Sweet, I know how boring it gets in here," Ella said waving her arm with a flourish. "Let the tour begin."

***

"What're we waiting for Blitz?" Kyle asked as he crouched behind their leader.

"Shut up you moron," Blitz retorted. "Max knows what she's doing. It's possible she's just leading them into a false sense of security."

Kyle shook his head, "Yeah and it's possible that Hightower is back at the Compound worshipping you like a god."

Blitz threw him an icy glare that would've silenced Hightower himself. He turned his attention back to the house. Still there was no explanation for Max's odd behavior with these people. She acted like she seemed to know them and yet he could still sense her hesitation, her reluctance to really be a part of anything. There wasn't an actual sign that meant anything. Max was a master of deception and Blitz had faith in her, even if the rest of the team didn't.

Besides, no one here actually worried Blitz. Well, there was that Fang guy, but he didn't seem too enthralled with Max's presence. If it came to it at all, Blitz would quickly stomp out any hold this guy had on Max's heart. He would crush Fang's chances of ever holding Max, a position Blitz coveted above all.

Until then, all Blitz had to do was bide his time and maybe even have some fun. In the end, he would have Max and an extremely pissed off Hightower. Better still, he wouldn't care.

***

"So if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask, since I'm just down the hall," Ella grinned stopping at my door.

"Who's room is this?" I asked pointing to a closed door next to mine. I already guessed it belonged to Fang, but it couldn't hurt to be sure.

"That's…er…Fang's room," Ella said quickly confirming my assumption. "He's not a big fan of anyone in there, so…"

I nodded pretending to let it drop when in reality I was far from letting it go. I was going to get to the bottom of his steely demeanor one way or another.

I wasn't going to get anywhere near figuring out why he'd melted when he'd touched me, since he didn't touch me at all. Heck, he didn't speak to me except in simple one liners like yes or no and only then when he had to. It was getting ridiculous. This was my opportunity to understand who Fang really was.

"Hey, it smells like Mom is making cookies," Ella said inhaling deeply. "If we get there first we can eat the dough."

I nodded easily faking my enthusiasm. As much as the thought of cookies intrigued me, I had to understand Fang first. "Just give me a second, I want to grab something."

Ella nodded heading downstairs. Good, that meant she didn't suspect a thing. I maneuvered back from my room to the closed door. I reached for the knob not thinking about what I'd do if he was in here. Feign being lost? That could work if I played it up a lot. Still just touching the doorknob was sending sparks to my brain leaving me on the edge of a memory reclaiming collapse. There would be no turning back now.

I opened the door halfway expecting to get yelled at. Instead an airy silence greeted me. The walls were a deep navy blue and the carpet was a blue gray color, also not what I'd expected. A black electric guitar sat unused and collecting dust in the corner and the walls were bare as was the cherry wood desk. I found a chain of pictures on the desk of Fang and I that had been taken at a photo booth. Odd, I didn't think Fang cared at all. Intrigued, I picked up the strip. The first picture was me pulling him down into the picture followed by all of the Flock trying to cram into the tiny booth. In spite of myself, I smiled weakly returning the pictures. I sighed eyeing the neatness of the room; everything down to the dark gray bedspread was perfect. It reminded me of my room at the Compound. Military like neatness had surrounded me there too. It seemed Fang wasn't any different.

Deciding I'd had enough, I turned to leave before I had a random brain attack or I got caught only to see Fang standing behind me, his eyes and expression unreadable.

I stared back at him fidgeting as a thick tension took over. My tongue refused to apologize, and it refused to move at all as his deep gaze penetrated mine. In that second, I think I saw who he had once been. It was an emotion I wasn't sure I could feel again after the things I'd done. It was an emotion I couldn't even put a name to. Our silent peace didn't last long as I watched his eyes harden over again like a frozen lake.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked evenly, any trace of emotion drained from his face.

I stood there desperately trying to think of anything to tell him. My brain, however, had chosen this exact moment to shut down.

"It's my room and the door is right over there," he said walking to the bed. I notice the space he kept between us. That's what finally gave my voice back; it gave me a reason to be angry with him.

"Look, I don't have the plague last time I checked," I shot back my voice like a razor. I'd had time to practice it on Anne. "So stop acting like it."

"Get out of my room and I'll think about it," he answered coolly.

"Not until you listen. I may not remember much, but that doesn't mean you can be a jerk," I shouted before I could stop myself. "You know the first memory I had of you was in a cave with you kissing me. There was obviously a reason I remembered it first, but you're not the same person. Maybe I remembered someone else."

"That was before I thought you were dead," he replied trying to keep his voice low and detached.

"Well guess what, I've wished I was dead so many different times so the horror of thing I had to do would just stop," I said angrily.

"I can't love a shadow of a girl I once loved. When she left, I died," Fang yelled back. "Ask anyone, I haven't been the same since. You're obviously not her. I've been carrying around jagged memories and some scars cut deeper than flesh."

"You think I don't know that? I've learned that and more. I've seen things that no one should ever have to see," I said now in full fighting mode despite my attempts to stop it. "I've killed so many different people on a whim just because those whitecoats told me to. I've killed people with families, Fang, and then turned around and consoled their families like I hadn't done a thing."

"I've plastered on a smile for the past two years and told everyone I'm okay when in reality, if they could see what I really feel they'd be shocked. I'm one solid bruise and I've sewn up my heart so many times that it might never heal," Fang said a cold detachment filling his voice. "You don't know what it's like not daring to breathe because every breath had a memory of you."

"Yeah," I replied my voice quiet as I stared at my hands. "You don't know what it's like to not be in control of how many breaths you take and never knowing when they'll decide the next one is your last."

I slowly met Fang's eyes barely containing the urge to hit him. It didn't matter that he didn't love me. I didn't blame him, who could love a killer? I just wanted him to understand and I wanted to know why some part of me still cared. Why some part of me still loved him.

I stood up and hurried out of the room. I wasn't about to let him see just how much his words had bothered me. I bolted down the hall back to my room trying to fight the rush of emotions. What could he know about scars? Heaven only knew I had plenty, most you couldn't see, but I had plenty of both. It wasn't fair, but I'd learned to deal, so what right did he have?

I threw my jacket onto the bed my fingers grazing the two inch scars on either shoulder. I looked closer in the mirror. Identical lines that easily stood out against my skin.

Never again would anyone touch me like they had. I wouldn't let them…

***

**A/N: *cue dramatic music* So what do you think? Good? Bad? Inbetween somewhere?**

**Blitz: I knew Fang was a jerk. I freakin knew it. By the way, after previewing the next chapter I think you need to change it.**

**Me: Thanks for joining us again, Blitz. And he's not a jerk, he's just acting like one for now, but he's about to change that. Now, why would I change the next chapter? **

**Blitz: It has too much Fax. I told you it made me nauseous. Bleh!**

**Me: Deal with it because I promised these good reviewers some Fax. Anyways if you want the Fax you gotta review! You know you want to!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: BEHOLD!! I give you ultimate Faxness! *cue evil laughter* I told you I was getting to it…slowly. Now this chapter's really long... Well, better late than never right? Anyway, I hope you like this as much as my friends do. It's not my best writing since I wrote it awhile ago, but I didn't want to delete or change anything. Therefore, if it has mistakes or seems really cheesy, sue me. Of course that is kinda the point for this chapter, the cheesiness and OOC-ness anyway, so if you don't like it, that's just too bad. **

**Blitz: Then you can come join me in my corner while I'm ill from Fax overload.**

**Me: Yes, thank you Blitz. Exactly, you can go hang with him and be sad without Fax in your life. In any case, I hope this lives up to what you all where expecting. **

**Without further ado…*drumroll***

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 10: Reconciliation**

Watching Max leave my room, her face contorted in pain, nearly destroyed any remaining piece of sanity I had left. I didn't hate her and I didn't want us to do this, didn't want us to go through the motions of fighting, but my own weakness kept destroying any sense I seemed to gain. Angrily I picked up the nearest thing to me, my new set of headphones, and nearly threw them through the wall. I kept replaying our conversation in my head, wandering down different avenues it could've taken.

I can't love the shadow of a girl I once loved, I'd said. I hadn't meant to be so cruel, so final with my words. It wasn't that I couldn't love her; it was that I was afraid of myself. It wasn't fair to give myself hope only to force her to lose hers.

A noise at the door of my room caught my attention and I whirled around half expecting to see Max ready to get into a fist fight with me. It would be a beating I'd gladly take at this point. Instead Angel stood there calmly regarding me with the faintest trace of disappointment in her eyes. She didn't say anything, but I quickly discovered she didn't have to, not to send pangs of guilt through me anyway.

"I…" I started suddenly feeling like I should defend myself. I knew that anything I might tell Angel was only a lie. I knew what I'd said and no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't take it back. I couldn't fix it.

"Maybe you should try," Angel replied softly as she scanned my thoughts.

"I don't know how," I muttered, ashamed color flooding my cheeks.

"You used to," Angel went on. "You used to be the only one who could make it better; you just need to remember how."

"I can't," I said unable to look her in the eye.

She sighed, effectively drawing my gaze. I looked up at her and immediately wished I hadn't. Frustration was etched into her features as she watched me fidget nervously in front of her. "Try," she said firmly before walking away down the hall leaving me to wallow in my own guilty conscience.

"It won't make a difference," I muttered darkly to myself.

I knew I was only making stupid excuses, but I didn't want to face Max. With a sigh, and with a guilty conscience, I walked to the door of my room and cracked it open. No one was in the hall and from the sounds emanating from downstairs; I figured that was where they were. Steeling myself, I left the safety of my room and walked three steps to Max's closed door. With a deep breath, I knocked.

Max opened the door slowly, I'd figured she'd just yell at me to go away like she used to, and eyed me blankly.

All words defied me as I stood there stupidly. After a few moments of awkward silence, she started to shut the door and the need to say something, anything hit me.

"Wait a second," I said quickly shoving my foot in the open door and holding it there with my hand. "Look I know you're angry at me and you have every right to be, but before we start fighting again like we used to, can I show you something?"

"I don't…" she started to say maintaining her detached expression until she looked down the hall and caught Angel's eye.

"Please," I pressed. "We need to talk."

Max bit her lip in indecision and after several more minutes, and an inner argument with Angel I'm sure, she looked hesitantly up at me. "Fine, let's talk," she consented with a shrug.

Shoulders relaxing from their tensed position, I followed her into the room absentmindedly wondering how long it had been since I'd been in here with her. Nervously, I shifted from one foot to another, unsure what I was even going to say to her. What could I say that would make anything better?

"Well, what did you want to talk about?" she asked standing next to the window and looking away from me.

"Actually I need to show you something first," I replied trying to sound calm. "I need to show you so you can understand."

"Okay," she replied slowly not catching my eye.

I picked up her jacket and handed it to her, before opening the window and jumping outside on the roof. She watched me warily apparently unsure whether or not to come with me.

"Please trust me," I pleaded. "I know I have no right to ask that, but maybe this will help."

With a sigh, she followed me out into the fresh air. Quickly, enjoying the warm breeze that played amongst my feathers, I lead her to the cave. It wasn't the same cave her and I had shared our passionate moment, but a different memory was centered on it. I was leading her to the hawk cave. Coming up on it, I smiled as the memory of flying with the hawks, with her, came to mind.

The tip of my wing barely grazed hers and I saw her shiver and pull away slightly. With a sigh, I led her down to the ledge in front of the entrance to the cave, turning to see if she was right behind me. The hawks were still there, and they regarded Max and me with curious eyes. Calmly, I held my arm out to the biggest hawk and grinned as he flew onto my arm. He looked into my eyes and cocked his head towards Max as if asking who I had brought with me this time. The past few times I'd been here it had been alone, when I wanted to try to outrun my memories. It hadn't ever worked, but I still tried over and over again.

"You don't remember this do you?" I asked slowly as the hawk took off and the rest of the flock followed leaving the cave empty for the two of us.

"Um…no," Max replied looking guilty.

"We used to come here to fly with the hawks and learn from them," I replied catching her eye, "and just to talk."

"I…" she started trailing off.

"If you don't want to talk now," I mumbled not sure how to go on, "I won't make you, but I think you deserve the chance."

"Can I ask you a question then?" she asked sitting at the mouth of the cave and looking out into the empty air. I nodded sitting against the opposite wall and watching the hawks teach their babies to fly. "What happened to your wing?"

"Oh," I said bracing myself. I'd been trying to disguise the fact that I favored that side a little more than the other.

"It happened because of me," Max said making it more of a statement than a question. "You can just say it, I don't care."

"Yes, you do," I said adamantly not liking the cold acceptance in her voice. "Besides it wasn't your fault. Erasers tore the ligaments when…well when they took you, and it's taken forever to fully heal. It's stronger now, and I'm stronger now. It took losing you and my flight for a while to realize how much I needed you."

"I…I meant a lot to you didn't I?"

"You meant a lot to all of us, but you meant the world to me," I admitted staring at my hands. "I wish I could help you see that. Obviously I've been failing."

I heard her sigh and I glanced up to see her eyes full of confusion which faded into a look I was more familiar with, determination.

"I…um…" she stammered. "It…happened about eleven months ago."

I stared puzzled into her deep eyes, eyes that had haunted my dreams and now wouldn't look me in the eye. I saw behind her determination, though cleverly masked, was vulnerability. She looked for a single heart wrenching moment, like the old Max. Looking into her eyes now, I was reminded of another time in a similar cave. Had it only been a few years ago that Max and I were so close? I preferred us as only friends rather than this cold feeling of strangers by far. As I drifted in my memories, I wondered why I had blocked out such happy memories. Was the pain in remembering worse than the emptiness of forgetting?

"I was um…" she stammered trying to continue. "The scars…"

I realized that I was staring, but I couldn't pull my eyes away. She looked so scared and vulnerable, a look I remembered scared the daylights out of me when I'd seen it on the beach. That had been the time she'd tried to cut the microchip out of her arm by herself. The image had stuck with me and I suspected it always would. The only thing stopping me from pulling her into my arms was the hesitation I read deep in her eyes. She looked away from the hawks, instead choosing to stare at her hands uncomfortably, anything to avoid my gaze. I realized then she was trying to explain herself.

"There were three or four guys; they worked in the lab so I didn't recognize them. Every Friday night they'd go out and get drunk at local bars…" she started the hesitation now obvious in her voice.

I stayed completely silent as she told me about her time at the Compound. I knew she hadn't told anyone anything about it except for what Angel had gleaned from her mind. Even that small amount wasn't pretty. I realized the amount of strength it was taking to open up to me after keeping it inside for so long.

"One night, they came back unable to see straight and furious about something. Unfortunately I was the object they decided to take their anger out on," she went on fidgeting with the button on her shirt.

"You're not an object, you're a person," I muttered under my breath, though I been silent so far.

She smiled slightly, but the smile didn't touch her eyes. They seemed distant and glazed. "They dragged me into a back room, I tried to fight back, but…" she trailed off for a moment and I didn't press her. "They kept trying to strap me to the metal table and I pulled against the restraints so hard I broke them. Their self appointed leader was furious… He'd been in the process of trying to...trying to undo my pants and pull them off…"

She stopped, now trembling violently. My hands were shaking in anger, but I shoved it back. I reached over and took her hands stopping their jerky movements. I buried the anger and I instead hoped she could see the sympathy behind it. I squeezed my eyes shut at the image that threatened to undermine my self control and send me flying to hunt down these men and kill them. Now matter how irrational it was, I tried to ignore the urge and gave her hands a tight reassuring squeeze.

I felt useless and inexplicable frustrated knowing I couldn't do anything to erase what had been done. One look at Max's pained face and my insides seemed to flip flop. I wanted to take her into my arms and comfort her, but I felt that the memory was too fresh in her mind for her to be comfortable accepting male comfort to that extent. Besides that, I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve to hold her just yet.

"I can still remember the way he smelled, the way his unshaved face felt against my cheek, and the crazed look in his eyes. It still makes me sick, but I managed to break away from his friends before it got any further and punch him. I think I broke his cheekbone, he swore at me, and then," she continued taking a deep breath, "I remember seeing his fist. I saw stars and couldn't breathe. He kept swearing at me as his buddy drew a twelve inch knife and used mine, they'd taken it from me so I couldn't fight, and handed them to their leader. I saw him doing it, but I couldn't stop it…couldn't fight back. They were all chanting and egging him on. I just wished they'd get it over with or just kill me.

"He took one knife and brought it down through my shoulder. Then slowly, he did the other one, digging it in, inch by excruciating inch," she grimaced, her fingers tracing the scar through her shirt as the other hand gripped mine tightly. "I still remember the feral glint in his eyes and the stench of alcohol on his breath as he leaned closer. He was enjoying himself as he crucified me to that wall. I couldn't breathe and my head was spinning from blood loss. I was hovering in and out of conscious, but I remember him saying, 'Never deny me again, or I will kill you.' Sometime after that, Hightower burst in and I can't remember what he said, but the look in his eyes was enough to tell me he wasn't about to listen to excuses.

"Next thing I knew, I was in the infirmary with my cuts stitched up and my head pounding like a hammer. I wasn't dying or anything, but the damage had already been done," she finished slowly. "They didn't get to do what they'd wanted, but a part of me just quit."

He head sagged forward and I gave into the urge to wrap her in my arms. With her safely in my embrace, I felt her back shake with sobs. She shook so badly that I wondered how long she'd been fighting her tears. I instinctively eased her closer and tightened my arms around her, pressing her head to my chest. I was relieved when she accepted my embrace and even more so when she returned it. We sat there, locked together, for a while as I simply let her cry all the tears she'd never been able to.

When her sobs finally ceased I was glad when she continued to let me hold her close. I wondered if she was in any way as reluctant to let go as I was. God, I'd missed her.

"It's weird," she started in a hitched voice into my chest.

"What is?" I questioned tightening my arms puller her even closer against me. Just feeling her body in my arms and her steady breathing was all the reassurance I needed.

"That I can feel so secure with you…I never thought I could feel safe ever again. I wish I could remember…"

"Remember what?" I said easing back slightly to brush her hair away before ever so gently and unobtrusively kissing her forehead.

"I wish I could just remember more…more about my life and more about me and more about…"

"More about…" I questioned staring into her chocolate eyes.

"I wish beyond any shadow of a doubt, that I could remember you," she said burrowing her face into my neck.

"Maybe I can help a little with that," I whispered into her ear. Tentatively, I kissed her forehead softly. I felt her shiver in my arms and immediately backed off. "I won't force you to remember anything you don't want to," I said questioning her response to my touch.

"I want to remember you don't I?" she mumbled shaking her head. "I'll remember it all."

I pulled back slowly, just enough to look into her eyes. I could always tell when she was lying, at least I used to. Her eyes were different now, but they were still the eyes that had haunted my dreams for the past two years. They were still her eyes. I bent slowly and touched my lips to hers briefly then drawing back to gauge her reaction.

Her eyes had a wistful hue about them and the tears began to spill over silently. I pressed my hand to her cheek using my thumb to wipe them away on one side while kissing them away on the other. I pulled her closer and pressed my lips to hers again this time with more force. Her response matched mine. Kissing her now made me realize how much she was a part of me and I was a part of her. I hugged her as close as humanly possible never wanting to let go.

I finally, against all common sense, pulled back and looked into her eyes. She raised her hand and touched my cheek as if making sure I was real. Suddenly her eyes filled with confusion and her body tensed in my arms.

"What?" I asked, finding the change in her slightly alarming.

"I…uh…" she stuttered her eyes darting around the cave just to fall back on me with that same confused look. Her eyes looked lost and afraid. "I can't…"

"Why?" I asked unsure the reason behind her hasty change. "Did you remember something?"

The look in her eyes told me the answer before she could say anything. I gulped slightly wondered what had sparked the distrust in her eyes. It was distrust that sliced me to the core. Unfortunately, I hadn't always been the best man for Max that much was sadly true. I had done things I wasn't proud of by far. Still, I was trying to keep my promise to never leave her again.

"Yes…I mean…last time we were in a cave…" she stuttered still looking around.

I sighed a breath of relief. "You mentioned that before," I stated not willing to let her go.

"I…ah…I have to go," she said shrugging out of my arms and darting to the mouth of the cave. My was mind was racing through different things I could do to keep her with me as I jumped to my feet and caught her arm.

"Wait, please don't go," I pleaded as she pushed my arm away breaking the hold I had on her.

I quickly grabbed her hand and spun her to face me. Her eyes meant mine for a slight moment before looking away.

"I just need…" she said faltering again as her eyes raised to meet mine.

"You know I'll give you anything you need," I reassured her taking her hands and letting them fall limp on my chest.

"I…I'm not sure," she said weakly.

"What's wrong Max?" I asked my tone determined yet gentle.

"I'm not sure…I just…" she said looking confused and yet her eyes were filled with a dreamy far off look.

"Do you remember last time?" I coaxed trying to pinpoint what was bothering her.

"Yes," she replied hesitantly.

"All of it?" I questioned still not releasing my hold on her, though I could tell she wanted to get away.

"No, just parts," she clarified squirming as I held her against me.

"Which parts?" I asked trying to understand.

"I don't know, okay?" she said, the sudden sharpness in her voice slightly startling me, but I didn't loosen my grip. "I hate this."

"Hate what?" I inquired my tone softer this time.

"Not knowing whether or not I loved you. I mean I know my ABCs, I know my name, I know the president, and I can tell you my favorite foods, color, etc. but I can't remember you. I can't remember how I should feel around you," she explained, the frustration clear in her voice. "I can't remember the Flock and how I used to be with them. I can't remember people that, apparently, I've loved. Half of me is saying this is right, this is how it should be, how it was, but the other half, the assassin half, is telling me I should stop while I'm ahead. That I shouldn't do this to myself, I should stay detached from you. I hate it."

"We'll figure it out, I promise," I said softly enjoying the silence for a moment more before saying what I needed to say. "I have to apologize, Max."

"I'm listening," she said nuzzling closer to me.

"Well…"I started tightening my arms around her as she eased closer, "first off I need to say sorry for avoiding you. I've been a complete jerk."

"I've noticed," she said closing her eyes.

"I think though you should understand why," I added slowly. "I was afraid that it was all a dream and eventually I'd have to let you go again. See when they took you, I felt responsible because you left for the Flock, for me. I just quit fighting because I forgot what was worth fighting for. I couldn't, didn't want to handle anything after you left. I had a hole in my life, in everything where you used to be and nothing anyone did could fix it, so eventually they stopped trying. I stopped trying."

"I'm sorry," Max whispered.

"Don't be sorry," I replied feeling extremely calm. "I should've realized your being gone didn't give me the right to give up. I tried to find you, but I couldn't… I should've kept fighting. When you showed up it almost seemed for a second like fate was mocking me, but it wasn't. I was guilty. I'm the one who should be sorry, not you.'

"Why are you doing this?" she asked suddenly backing away from me.

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"I'm not worth it anymore," she answered. "Maybe I was, but you don't know what I've done. You can't…"

"I don't care, you are worth it," I said adamantly. "You're worth it to me, to the Flock and I'll prove it to you if I have to."

"How…how can I still be worth so much to you after I've put you through so much pain?" she asked her mystified eyes searching mine for answers. "I'm an assassin, Fang, I don't fall in love, I break it. You said it yourself earlier, I'm not the same and you know it."

"What's it going to take to make you believe me?" I asked not really needing an answer. "We can go in circles like this for hours, just like we used to, but it no matter how much you argue, it won't change a thing. I still love you and nothing, not your past, not the future, nothing will change it."

"Why?" she demanded breathlessly still staring me down.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I really don't know."

"I do," she said pointedly. "You're in love with the old Max, not me."

"True, I love the old Max with everything I am," I said trying to explain as she looked away from me, her hands fidgeting restlessly again.

I reached for her hands forcing her to look at me.

"But…" I finished, "I would be a hypocrite if I denied how I feel about you."

"You can't, I can't," she muttered not really fighting me as I pulled her back to me.

"What about you?" I whispered. "Do you love me?"

"You can't ask me that," she mumbled.

"But I am asking," I replied not letting her get away with not answering.

"In all my memories of you…I know I loved you," she said slowly.

"And now?" I asked leaning closer so that our faces were inches apart.

"Now…now," she started, "I know I shouldn't, but I love you Fang. I can't help it. I love you."

"Good, then we have something in common," I said slowly. "We'll just have to figure out the rest."

"I don't know what to think, Fang," she replied her eyes taking on the faraway look again. "I love you, but I can't force myself to open myself up and then get hurt. It won't work, I can't."

"And I'm not asking you to," I said brushing her hair from her eyes and letting my fingers graze her cheeks. "I won't loose you again, Max. I can't do that. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I do. Better than you know," she said with a faint trace of a characteristic Max smile. "I'm still not sure how I feel about this, but it's better than anything I've felt in a long time. This is how it was, isn't it?"

"More or less," I said pressing my lips to her cheek.

The faint smile trailing her lips broadened as soon as I did and without warning, she turned her head and let me catch her lips instead of her cheek. The sudden kiss caught me off guard, but I welcomed it. This was better than any previous kiss as I didn't sense any hesitancy in it. It was amazing to say the least.

"That was a promise to try," she mumbled as she pulled away.

I smiled warmly happy with everything for the first time in a long while. Nothing was going to destroy our love this time. Not the School, not Itex, and not this Compound or whatever. As Jeb had put it once when he'd tried to talk to me, Max and I were made for each other and there was no denying it now. A sharp squawk interrupted my silent reverie and I turned to the cave entrance to see a hawk eyeing us impatiently. To my surprise, the sky outside was an inky black and I grinned realizing we'd been out here for hours.

"We should go," I said hesitant to let her go.

"Yeah," she sighed seeming as reluctant as I was to leave.

We stood there a moment more, both completely content to just hold each other.

"What's going to happen tomorrow?" she asked me softly.

"Well, I promised not to avoid you anymore, but other than that, I guess we'll have to wait and see," I answered.

"Okay," she whispered. "Just promise me something."

"Anything," I replied.

"Promise me that I won't wake up tomorrow at the Compound," she pleaded. "Don't let this be a dream."

"I swear," I promised solemnly. "Now let's go, you look dead on your feet. Besides, technically, you're still hurt and you need your rest."

"I'm not…" she started ending with a yawn. "Okay, so you win."

She took a step back and almost stumbled. I quickly caught her around the waist before she could fall. "I always win," I said with a grin.

"Thanks," she said looking embarrassed.

"Come here," I said pulling her to me.

"What? Why?"

"I'm not letting you fly home like this," I answered sweeping her off the ground. "Friends don't let friends fly drowsy."

"You made that up," she snorted trying to get loose. "I'm fine."

"Whatever," I said moving to the cave entrance, "but I'm not putting you down."

"Fang," she yelped as I jumped into the air, "you're going to kill us."

"Trust me," I laughed unfurling my dark wings. "Oh and just relax."

"Little chance of that," she muttered but leaned into me nonetheless.

The rest of the flight home was silent, but somehow I didn't mind. How could I with the sound of her heartbeat pounding in my ears? Once we got back to the house, I headed quietly inside ignoring the raised eyebrow looks I was getting from Jeb and Val. Glancing down, I noticed Max, despite her plea that she wasn't tired, had fallen asleep. With a look over a Jeb and Val, who were still speechless, I carried her upstairs and lowered her on her bed.

"I love you, Maximum Ride," I whispered in her ear as I kissed her forehead.

I eased out of her room and headed into mine. I yanked off my jacket, and sprawled out on the bed. My mind was buzzing as I replayed the night's events. I took several deep breaths inhaling Max's smell that clung to my clothes as I closed my eyes. I slowly let myself drift to sleep and had the best night's sleep I'd had in years.

***

**A/N: Like I said I hope you liked it. I hope it wasn't to odd or anything. Like I said I wrote it a while ago with my friend and some of this is her writing too. So if there's something you didn't like, we can just blame her, right? Okay, maybe not, but still. I hope it was at least good for everyone. **

**Blitz: Now can we move on in the world?**

**Me: You're just angry because you weren't in this one. Anyway, please push George, who is Bob's the Review Button's cousin, and leave me a review! I need to know what you liked and didn't like so I can fix it and make it better! Until then, cookies for all my reviewers! I love you guys, I really do!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Wow, I kinda suck at updating… I get focused on writing or something and then I think about nothing else…sad. Anyway, I wasn't sure I wanted to post this chapter, but after much consideration and being poked in the side, I've decided to. I wasn't sure if it was too much of a repeat, well not repeat, but you'll see, of the last chapter, but I was convinced otherwise. Plus there's mindless Fax at the end that I just couldn't get rid of. I'm a sucker for Fax. Basically, there isn't any big things happening in this chapter, another reason I was hesitant, but I still think it's cute and sometimes you just need cute! Am I right? **

**Blitz: I never need cute.**

**Me: Wow, no wonder Max doesn't like you. You're depressing. **

**Blitz: Yeah, cause I'm not in it. **

**Me: You will be. Anyway, I'm also dedicating this chappie and a plateful of chocolate chip cookies to my friend, Annaka, and my amazing reviewers! I love you so sorry I take a while to update!**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 11: New Love**

I woke up with a start at first unsure where I was. Last I remembered, Fang and I had been talking, which didn't explain how I had gotten into bed. That in turn left only one solution, Fang.

There was a sudden knock on the door and without warning my instincts took over. I leapt out of bed and flattened myself against the wall, muscles clenching from the override my brain was trying to issue in order to stop them from letting me jump out the window. After a minute of silence, the door opened and Fang meandered in.

He glanced from the bed to me eyebrow raised in confusion. "What're you doing?" he asked with a grin.

"I…uh…" I stuttered forcing my muscles to relax. "Nothing, I wasn't doing anything."

"Right," he grinned obviously not believing a word I said. "Well, I brought you something to eat, if you want it of course."

"Sure," I nodded taking the plate of pancakes from him.

"Sleep all right?" he asked sitting backwards on the desk chair.

"Yeah," I shrugged.

"No nightmares?" he questioned watching me intently.

"No," I replied. "What is it? You keep staring me down like that and I'll throw this plate at you."

"Sorry, just curious," he said holding up his hands in surrender.

"So what's the plan for today?" I wondered aloud.

"Beats me," Fang said with a quick shrug. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

I sighed looking away from him. Never in a million years would Blitz have said anything like that to me. Everything with Blitz was a dangerous dance between cat and mouse. With Fang, I could be myself, whoever that was of course. From what I'd gathered from last night, Fang didn't care exactly who me was, though I didn't know what I'd done to deserve him.

"Actually, I think your mom and sister planned something or other, though I'm not sure what," he said moving to sit on the edge of my bed. "If you'd rather not, I could steal you away."

"I don't know which I prefer," I said truthfully.

"Well, either option is there," he said kissing my forehead softly.

Despite last night and my heart's sudden reaction, I slightly flinched away from him. My assassin instincts were proving hard to shake, which was no surprise seeing as how they'd practically been drilled into my head. Like I'd told Fang, I couldn't just erase my past and open up over night.

"Well, if you need anything, I'll be around," he said ignoring my flinch.

"Okay, but what will you do?" I asked him as he stood up.

"Oh I'm sure Iggy and Gasman will have something," he replied, his mouth curving slightly into a faint smile.

"What if I…" I started to say before he cut me off.

"What if you need me?" he finished the question reading me mind in his uncanny way. "I won't be far, just yell."

I nodded as he kissed me softly and left the room. I watched him until he was completely out of sight. Despite everything, I really did love him, not just because I had before, but because I wanted to now. I quickly finished my late breakfast before getting up. I made the bed, a habit from the Compound, and caught my reflection as I straightened up.

I looked about the same as always, but something was different. Everything seemed to be the same from the toned muscle down to the plain hair. Once I'd finished training, Hightower had quickly erased the natural highlights of my hair and turned it a simple dark blonde color, so that it wasn't anything you'd remember. Besides that, all the scars, both physical and emotional were still there, but something had definitely changed.

It wasn't until I turned and saw the picture of Fang and I together that I got it. A hint of the old warmth in my eyes was shining through. A glimmer of hope amongst the previous emptiness. I enjoyed the change.

I sighed brushing my hair from my eyes. It seemed like the more I remembered and relaxed, the more the old Max came back.

I quickly threw on some clothes out of my closet. Faded wash jeans and a green shirt with a rabbit on it telling the world to cram it. _I need to learn to tell Blitz that, _I though turning back to the bed. I debated for several minutes on whether or not to take Fang up on his offer or venturing off with Dr. Martin…Mom and Ella. I wanted to know about my life before, so I chose to face the day with Ella and my mom.

I grabbed my dishes and eased out of the bedroom to the stairs. Various snatches of conversations drifted up the stairs and I inhaled deeply trying to calm my suddenly racing pulse.

"Just don't think about it," I muttered to myself as a familiar scent flooded my senses.

My anxiety temporarily forgotten, I followed the warm, inviting smell downstairs. It was a smell that seemed so familiar and connected to so many wonderful memories. I couldn't attach it to anything I'd done in two years so I figured it was an older memory.

"Hey Max," Ella grinned warmly going up the stairs the opposite direction. "Thought you were going to sleep all day."

"Tempting," I replied forcing a smile, but still flinching away as her fingers brushed mine as she took the dishes.

"Yeah, well at least you bring your dishes back," she said rolling her eyes. "I've got to hunt Fang's down before they mold and create an intelligence of their own."

I kept up the smile until she was nearly up the stairs hunting Fang's rogue dishes. I headed into the kitchen still following the delicious smell. Mom, which was still an extremely hard concept to wrap my head around, was mixing something in a huge bowl and her eyes twinkled as she noticed me standing nervously in the doorway.

"Oh Max, perfect timing," she said happily. "Would you mind grabbing some eggs from the fridge?"

I nodded grabbing the carton from the fridge. Mom quickly motioned for me to crack them above the huge bowl as she continued mixing.

"What are you doing?" I asked finally voicing my question.

"Making cookies," she replied.

"Cookies?" I asked thoroughly confused.

"What?" she exclaimed making me jump. "Don't tell me they've deprived you of a cookie for the past two years!"

Actually that was exactly what the compound had done. We were weapons and you didn't treat weapons that could kill you at any given minute to anything, let alone cookies. A hyper, sugar-high assassin was an assassin bound to make mistakes and therefore not needed as an elite assassin.

"That's just wrong," mom was saying. "Well you're in for a treat then, but there's only one condition, if you want first dibs on the cookies, you've got to help make them."

"I'm not a very good cook," I admitted slightly red.

"You never were," she laughed. "Anyway cookies aren't hard to make. I'll teach you."

"Yeah, and once you've had a homemade cookie, you'll never go back," Ella said as she came into the kitchen.

"Back to what?" I asked.

"Anything," she replied brightly.

The next few minutes were silent except for Mom's instructions.

"So Max," Ella started slowly glancing at Dr. Martinez, "can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

I nodded keeping my eyes focused on forming circular shapes out of the sticky dough.

"What was it like, being an assassin I mean," she asked her voice softening as I winced.

I took a deep breath reluctant to say anything. What could I say about the past two years? Well Ella, it was traumatizing and nerve-wracking. Not exactly the best choice of words and they weren't entirely true either. Sure it had been mostly both of those things, but I couldn't deny the adrenaline rush I had gotten on more than one occasion.

"My life for the past two years has been…a roller coaster," I started searching for the right words. "I didn't like what I did, but I didn't hate it either. I mean I didn't like the killing, but the rush… It's hard to explain."

"The roller coaster part isn't much different from your life, the Flock's life before," Mom said in a soft voice. "You made it through though, so I'm sure we can find a way to put this behind you."

"That's just it, I don't know if I can," I sighed averting my eyes from her watchful gaze.

"We'll just have to find you a new rush," Ella grinned looking mischievous. "Like sugar or chocolate…or Fang."

I felt the heat flare up in my cheeks at the mention of Fang's name. It was hard to explain the whirlwind of emotions he put me through. _What if he's just like Blitz? _The trained doubtful of my brain chimed in, stealing my confidence from this morning. To be honest, I was still reeling from various situations with Blitz. I knew in my head that Blitz and Fang were vastly different, but it was still hard to forgive and forget.

"Okay, let's stick these in the oven and once they're done we'll dig in," Dr. Martinez said breaking the awkward silence.

"Those look good," a voice said behind me as arms encircled my waist.

Before I had time to think about it, my instincts kicked into high gears and I reacted. I stepped forward and slammed my fist back into a startled Fang's groin. As he buckled forward my elbow slammed into his nose effectively dropping him to the floor. **(A/N: That's an actual karate move! I've done it to my cousin so it does work!)** I spun around still partially ready for a fight.

"Oh Fang," I muttered dropping next to him.

"Holy crap," Ella said in awe. "Sorry Fang, but that was just too awesome."

"'S Always better when it happens to someone else," Fang grimaced in obvious pain.

"In all fairness, you did sneak up behind her," Mom commented trying to hold back laughter.

"In my defense, I didn't know that would happen," he whispered his voice ragged.

"I'm sorry," I said the red tinge of my cheeks deepening.

"It's okay," he said flashing me a weak smile that was contrary to the look in his eyes. "Though I think you might have given me a black eye."

I dropped my gaze fidgeting with uncertainty. Finally I gave in trying not to care that Ella and my mother were watching.

"I'm really sorry," I whispered softly.

Before he could wave away my apology like a typical guy, I leaned in and silenced him with a light kiss on his eye where a bruise was already forming.

"Wow, maybe I should let you hit me more often," he said looking slightly dazed.

"Like I said, I am sorry," I said pressing my forehead to his. "Where else does it hurt so I can kiss it better?"

"Uh…well," Fang stuttered going three different shades of red. "I um…what was the question?"

"Fang! What the hell?" Ella squealed as Fang went deeper red.

"What're you talking about?" I asked glancing at mom who was shaking her head, an unrecognizable expression on her face. "I don't get it…"

And unfortunately, suddenly I did. I automatically backed away from Fang, terror flashing across my face. I felt my cheeks heat up again and prayed I could sink into the floor away from everyone.

Glancing at him didn't alleviate my embarrassment since he seemed a heck of a lot more calm than me. Suddenly unbidden images flashed through my brain, all involving Fang in one way or another. Probably the same images that had crossed his mind seconds before.

"What's going on in here?" Jeb asked eyeing the awkward looks on our faces as he walked into the kitchen.

"Max tried to kill Fang and then Fang…" Ella started trailing off slowly.

"Don't worry about it," Val whispered. "I'll explain later."

I used the Jeb's interruption to sneak away from the kitchen. I suddenly wanted as much distance between Fang and me as humanly possible, which was usually a side effect of having Blitz around. I doubted he had meant anything, but sitting there next to him was doing nothing for the images in my head.

Once I made it to the safety of my room, I shut the door and leaned against it breathing deeply. I meandered over to the desk glancing at the stuff that had been mine in an attempt to clear my majorly confused brain. Why was the stupid exchange downstairs getting to me so badly? Well, maybe because I wasn't comfortable thinking of Fang in the same light as Blitz. His whole agenda had been seeing how he could a) get under my skin and b) get me into a romantic situation with him. A shiver trailed my spine as I remembered some of Blitz's more dramatic attempts. Besides that, my hormonal teenaged brain was utterly disturbing.

A quick knock on the door thankfully drew me out of my alarming memory reel and into reality. Not much of a trade let me tell you.

"Hey Max, it's me," Fang's voice called sending chills radiating down my spine.

Oh crap. "Um…don't come in," I yelled searching for a good excuse and not finding one. "I'm…uh…changing." Oh lord, did that just come out of my mouth?

"At 11:47?" he asked obviously not believing me.

"Um…yes," I said grabbing my jacket and moving to pry the window open.

"Look Max, you know I don't believe you and…" he paused as I wrenched the window up. "Are you even listening?"

"Yeah," I lied maneuvering out the window just as the door opened.

"Max!" Fang shouted sounding exasperated.

Still, the boy wasted no time in giving chase. Oh joy… My eyes darted left and right scanning the ground for somewhere to escape to. Anywhere would do as long as I could blend in and hopefully he wouldn't see me. Finally after staying ahead for several minutes I saw a small but crowded store. I highly doubted Fang would try to forcibly take me in a public place and even if he tried I'd make a scene.

I landed quickly behind the store and raced inside praying Fang was smart enough to realize I didn't want to talk.

I was forced to slow down as I went inside and people flashed me weird looks, but resumed their shopping like faithful drones. It was weird running away. I'd always been the predator, not the prey.

I wandered the aisles checking behind me every so often and managed to stick close to people. Sorry sir, I'm being chased and I'm standing next to you to hide. What? No, he's not after me, he's kinda my best friend and boyfriend, I think… Yeah that'd be an interesting conversation. I kept my eyes focused on the door and every time I caught a dark shadow and I immediately headed the other direction.

"Max please," Fang said suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Kudos to wonder boy, but I was in no mood.

I tried to dodge beneath his outstretched arm, but he managed to catch me anyway. He swung me around to face him, his dark eyes studying mine.

"What's wrong?" he asked his grip relaxing slightly. "Or rather, what did I do?"

"Nothing…I just," I started trying to say something smart, but my brain had decided to tie my tongue into knots as Fang gave me a lopsided grin. "What?"

"Before you didn't just run off," he replied still grinning. "Usually I provoked it. Usually because I kissed you."

"And that's amusing because…?"

"This time, I got punched," he laughed much to my confusion. "Come on, apparently we still have stuff to talk about."

He took my hand holding it loosely, yet firmly and led me out of the store. Again with the odd looks of random customers and I swear I heard one mutter something about a love affair. If Fang hadn't been holding my hand, I'd have gone and set her straight. Then again, I couldn't really set her straight without having the facts straight myself. Ugh…

Fang calmly led the way to a small park across from the store where he sat me on a small bench. The way he was watching me was sending chills across me yet again and I looked away from him.

"Okay," he said slowly. "What do we still need to go over?"

I looked up at him trying to decide what to say. He just stared back, didn't sit next to me, just put on foot up on the bench to lean on and waited.

"You know I wouldn't ever make you do anything to make you uncomfortable, I explained that last night, didn't I?" he ventured trying to drag words from me. "I have no intention of hurting you, now or ever."

"I know," I sighed. "It's not you I worry about. It's me."

"Why? Because you hit me earlier?"

"Yes, no, I don't know!" I said in frustration. "I'm trying Fang, but I can't break old habits. I can't hurt you."

"You won't," he replied adamantly.

"You're not listening are you?"

"I am listening, but I don't care."

"Why not?" I demanded getting irritated. "Would you still think the same thing if I seriously hurt you next time? Or if I hurt Angel or Gazzy… How would that be okay? On any level?"

"It wouldn't, but trust me when I tell you that you'd never hurt any of the Flock accidentally or purposely," he replied, his eyes shimmering with determination. "They can only make you do so much; they can't make you go against your nature."

"So killing people was in my nature?" I asked trying to switch off the offensive. I really didn't need an argument on my hands.

"No, that was no more in your nature than it is to kill me now," he replied. "You did what you had to."

The finite tone of his voice almost had me completely convinced. Almost… Again that little piece of my brain warned me with the underlying feeling that I couldn't get closer to Fang because this could end at any minute.

"You're still not completely comfortable with me are you?" he asked softly.

"How do you always know what I'm thinking nearly word for word?" I asked avoiding his question with another one.

"I think you already know the answer to that Max," he said meeting my gaze.

"I did," I muttered.

"Then you will again," he countered his eyes unreadable. "I'll do anything. Even when that jerk off from the Compound comes, I'll be waiting. I'm not going to let them take you."

I sighed unsure just what Fang would do to Blitz. Blitz wasn't known for being a fair fighter either. He'd do anything to win.

"But," Fang went on, "I'm not going to force you to stay either."

Suddenly I couldn't speak again. I loved Fang, I really did. So much so that it hurt since I wasn't used to the feeling. I glanced up at Fang and winced. He sat in the silence looking almost crushed. As he noticed me watching him, his eyes became unreadable again. My heart pounded violently in my ears. Here he was being so open with me and I couldn't even explain how I felt about him.

"I…I'd do anything to stay with you Fang," I said softly.

"I like that," he smiled. "I'm not disregarding your worries though. I understand how you feel…or rather I wish I could. I wish I could understand, but until then just know that what you've done doesn't affect my decisions. Unless…"

"Unless what?" I asked as he pulled me to my feet.

"You'll see, now what do you say we go home? Maybe have a race?" Fang challenged. "Winner gets bragging rights and let's say a kiss?"

"Sure, I like a challenge," I shot back with a grin. Yeah, I like a challenge and anything else that sidetracked my mind.

Fang smirked; a somehow reassuring gesture and we took off to the edge of the park away from watchful eyes. He glanced over at me and I glanced back at him, both of us determined not to let the other win. I figured he'd kiss me anyway, but the bragging rights sounded fun.

"Ready?" Fang asked tensing to fly.

"Always," I nodded.

"Go!"

I pushed past him and took off enjoying the rush from flying. Still the tingling feeling that overwhelmed me, I felt everywhere. Ella had been right; being with Fang did give me a rush.

I glanced back to see where Fang was. He grinned and dipped towards some trees.

"Where are you going?" I yelled as he pulled ahead.

"Shortcut," he laughed barely loud enough over the wind.

I followed him, eagerly darting between trees until we were neck and neck. If there was one thing I knew how to do above all else it was fly. Being an assassin had only improved my reflexes and aerial maneuvers.

"It's probably good you don't remember your other talent," I heard Fang mutter as I dodged a huge oak tree.

"Who said I forgot?" I asked victoriously as I shot ahead laying on speed.

Even with my super speed, my reflexes refused to let me crash into a tree. I weaved and dodged unsure where Fang was behind me. I really didn't care; I just had to win this. I shot out of the trees and laid back on the speed now moving at a regular tempo.

Still I kept going towards home. Weird, I'd never actually thought of anywhere as home in a long time. Maybe this was where I belonged.

I saw the house ahead and tried to slow down enough to land in the backyard, but my momentum had me running across the lawn. I saw Fang coming up behind me, but couldn't stop what happened next.

Fang's momentum combined with mine sent him crashing into me and both of us cart wheeling across the lawn. Fang tried to slow us down, but I think he only made it worse. As we finally slowed, both of us burst into uncontrollable laughter. I tried to get up several times, but my lungs were too busy screaming for air.

As our laughter subsided, I rolled onto my stomach and glanced at Fang who was staring up into the sky; his limbs sprawled out around him.

"That was amazing," he whispered.

"Definitely, but I think you owe me something," I said with a playful grin.

He didn't say anything, but rolled up and caught my lips with his. Kissing Fang was something my brain still couldn't process completely, and it didn't seem like I ever would. It was so many different things all spun into one kiss and I didn't want it to end. There was something different in this kiss; it was gentle yet fierce, claiming yet soft, undeniable yet not forceful. Words could hardly describe this kiss.

"Reward all you hoped?" Fang asked as he pulled away.

"Yes," I breathed as my brain spun from oxygen deprivation. "Although something was different about this kiss. Why?"

"Because just now, I heard you laugh and smile for real," Fang said his hand finding mine, "and because I saw pieces of the old Max combining with the new Max to make something I didn't think was possible."

"Which would be?" I coaxed liking his answer so far.

"The Max that stole my heart," he said softly.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! I'm actually kinda glad that I left this chapter in! Who can deny the wonderfully marvelous Fax? Sigh… Anyway, after a dose of mindless fluff, I promise now to get back to the plot. Next chapter will get interesting. Fang gets to take a look at Max's past. *cue dramatic music* Oh lookie, Bob, our original review button, is back from vacation. Push him so he knows he was missed. I will work harder on updating sooner! Love ya guys!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Yay! I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. It makes me glad I left it in there. I was worried that it was too much but apparently I was wrong for which I'm glad. Anyway, this one has a little less Fanax (a word I stole from SerenityJones because it's awesome and sounds like something you can get high off) and a little more plot-ness, but it's all good. Fang gets all protective and stuffs so that's getting somewhere. Basically we now get to delve into Max's memories via a new slightly creepy Angel power. *cue dramatic music, key drum roll* Anyway read it and let me know what you think! I'm hoping it's as good as previous chapters and that you aren't confused. Just let me know and I'll fix it right up. I love the reviews, you guys rock my socks, or you would if I was wearing any, but still. **

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 12: Memories**

"Chocolate chip wins," Max said grabbing another of Val's homemade cookies. "You have a favorite Mr. Silent?"

"Not sure," I replied honestly. "I haven't had a cookie in a while."

"Well that's too bad," she said completely serious. "I would've saved one for you."

"It doesn't matter," I said leaning up and kissing her lips gently, almost hesitantly. "I can taste them on your lips."

She watched me silently for a moment, neither of us saying anything and I thought I had pulled some dark memory out from a hiding place. I gulped praying that wasn't the case.

"What are you thinking?" I asked softly my voice no more than a whisper. Still she didn't say anything, just stared into my eyes. "This is the part where you say something."

"I don't know what to say," she said breathlessly.

"Say anything," I mumbled my face inches from hers.

"I'm not afraid anymore," she said. "Not of this, not of us. I think I love you."

"I like it when you say it," I grinned.

"Finally," Angel said loudly from the doorway. "Hi Max!"

I rolled my eyes as Angel ran up and threw her arms around her idol officially ended our moment. It was no secret to me or anyone else that Angel more or less worshipped the ground Max walked on. I sighed softly recalling Angel's sobbing episode not long after Max had gone. Why can't I be strong like Max, she'd asked me, Max wouldn't cry like me. It had nearly shattered my already broken heart to hear it.

"Hey Angel," Max said giving Angel a warm grin.

"Thanks for the cookie," Angel said swiping the last cookie on the plate and shoving it into her mouth. _What's up Fang?_

"You missed one?" I asked Max in disbelief. _I have an idea but I need your help._

"She stole it…" Max muttered not answering me.

"And that surprises you because?" I asked grinning myself.

_Hmmm…it's crazy, but it just might work,_ Angel replied in my head watching the plan. _What did she say?_

_Haven't asked, _I admitted somewhat sheepishly. "Hey Max, you remember earlier how I said I wanted to understand?"

"Yeah," she replied her tone immediately defensive. Not a good sign.

I swallowed loudly unsure how to explain without upsetting her. Who was I kidding? The way I said it wasn't going to make it better. Max wasn't going to like it pure and simple. "Would you show me?"

"Show you?" she echoed in confusion.

"Show him a memory," Angel explained quickly. "That way he can see it firsthand and know how you feel."

"No!" Max said quickly, her voice rising in pitch as she leapt to her feet.

"Max I…" I began instantly recognizing the pain behind her anger.

"No Fang," she said firmly. "Not now, not ever."

"I can't help you if I don't understand how you feel," I coaxed.

"It's not going to happen," she said looking away from me and Angel.

"What did they do to you?" I mumbled softly pulling her rigid frame against me. "Nothing you deserved obviously. You never did deserve what they did and you never will."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Max whispered not relaxing at all.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," I said gently, but completely adamant. "You're so quick to condemn yourself, but I'm not so sure you're as guilty as charged."

"Even if you see my past, what will it change?" she asked the anger replaced by cold detachment. "Nothing. Nothing will change."

_Gently Fang, _Angel warned in my head.

_I'm trying, _I answered her before answering Max. "No, but it will help me convince you that the past doesn't matter to me," I replied getting nowhere fast. "The past is over and done with. You and I, here and now, is what's important to me."

"Fine, do it then," she muttered, the anger seeping back into her voice. She knew she was losing the battle, but her eyes still flickered with a fierce flame that belied her rigid frame. She wanted to pick a fight with me or at least some part of her did; I would know having seen her start fights with plenty of Erasers. "I might be quick to condemn myself, but I wouldn't be so quick to exonerate me either.

"Max," I started wanting to convince her otherwise. Not coming up with anything, I finished lamely, "I'm not going to change my opinion."

"Fine, but don't blame me when this goes wrong," she said in a low voice. "Don't blame me when you find out I'm not the good guy in this twisted story. I haven't been the good guy in a long time."

"And they've almost got you convinced you never were," I replied evenly.

Max shrugged away from me not saying anything and not looking up at me as she turned to walk to the stairs. I glanced at Angel who ran after Max with a somewhat pained expression on her face. _Angel, I'm sorry, _I thought blandly.

_It's okay, it's not you or her, _she answered sounding surprisingly cheerful. _You'll get it soon._

But did I want to get it? That was the real question. What was so bad that Max would do just about anything to not show me? Not being the key word in that sentence. If either of us had things they'd done that they didn't want the other to see, it was me. Not because it was bad, but because I was ashamed and partially horrified of who I'd become when I lost her.

"You can choose what to show him," Angel was reassuring Max as I followed them into her room. "It won't be that bad."

"Yeah, I guess," Max muttered in a flat tone.

I sat on the bed next to Max trying not to be so hyper aware of every move Max made. Not exactly an easy feat, especially since she was trying to stay as far away from me without falling off the bed. Angel sat across from us so that she could face us both.

"Okay, just roll up your sleeve Fang," Angel instructed calmly.

Again, it was hard not to feel Max's eyes watching as I slid my navy blue sleeve up exposing my forearm. With her gaze on me, every nerve ending felt as though it was on fire.

"Okay, you have a memory in mind?" Angel asked now talking to Max.

"Yeah," came the soft reply.

"Okay close your eyes," Angel said taking our forearms and placing her cool fingers across them. "Lean back against the wall. This will feel weird at first. It's kinda like dreaming, but you're awake. Just relax and try not to fight it."

"So it'll be just like reliving it," Max said in a dark tone that I hadn't ever heard her use before. Obviously whatever she was about to show me was not pleasant for her to recall.

"I swear to you Max," I said moving so that our forearms touched, "I love you, I need you."

"Don't say that," she replied pain evident in her voice. "Not yet."

"I have to say it."

"All right Fang, shut up," Angel laughed lightly. "Take a deep breath, both of you, and let's do this."

I closed my eyes, listening to Angel and Max's breathing as I stared at the black space in front of me. I focused intently on the steady sound of breathing as slowly we plunged into Max's memories.

"This ought to be fun," a voice laughs next to me.

"Nice and easy," I reply, but in Max's voice. It's like watching a movie, with the camera being the main character's eyes, but not really. If they ever make a movie where you think all the main character's thoughts, feel everything they feel, both physical and emotional, and then maybe you'll understand what this feels like, but I wouldn't count on it anytime soon. Yeah, Angel's newest power kinda freaks me out a little.

"It shouldn't take too long, so we might get a break from training and Hightower's constant rambling," the guy, Blitz, Max's mind tells me, said in a suggestive tone.

"Maybe in your dreams," I, or Max rather, shot back.

"Maybe you'll change your mind," Blitz grinned wrapping his arm around Max's waist.

The disgust that raced through me also ran through Max's memory. I growled, don't ask how I did that me being in Max's head and all, wanting desperately to deck the worm, but I was only a backseat passenger and Max's limbs didn't react to me.

"Don't count on it anytime in the future," Max muttered jerking away from him. A sense of satisfaction fluttered through me as Max clenched her fingers refraining from punching him herself.

"Blitz, Max," a sharp voice barked in Max's ear echoing from a small earpiece in her left ear. "Will you two lovebirds stop going over your life stories and get with the program?"

"Sorry Hightower," Blitz said the small microphone at his throat relaying his disappointment.

"You'd better be," Hightower's voice retorted. "Now all you have to do is get to Senator Dempsey's office, where he'll be going over files on his computer. Kill him and get out. Quick, clean, and simple. Don't bother covering up. As long as no one sees you, we'll fix it to look like an accident. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Blitz replied letting Max stay silent, a job that was usually mine.

"Now be quick about it," Hightower ordered coolly. I'd never seen the guy, but I already hated him. The fatherly image Max was projecting as he spoke made me slightly ill.

"Come on," Max muttered to Blitz walking quickly towards the building.

It wasn't exactly the Pentagon or the White House, but this was obviously some government building. Hightower had said the target was a senator. Absentmindedly I wondered what he'd done to be targeted.

"How do you want to do this?" Blitz asked falling in step with Max. "Did you want to worm through security or just fly up to his window and crash in on the guy?"

"I prefer flying," Max replied not slowly her pace any.

"Yeah, I'd imagine the metal detectors would just love you," Blitz snickered. "Sorry officer, that's not a knife, that's my nail file. Oh and that's just a randomly placed chip in my arm. Don't worry it won't explode I swear, it's deactivated," he added in a high pitched impression of Max's voice.

A ripple of general annoyance flooded Max's senses. Obviously her hate for Blitz went much deeper, but I couldn't tell just how far beneath the surface her contempt went. Not that I minded. I'd never met him, but I still hated the snake. I hate snakes.

"Well let's do this before Hightower changes his mind and makes it harder than necessary," Blitz muttered when Max didn't respond to him. "You okay?"

"Peachy," she replied lying through her teeth. Except that she was on this mission with an idiot, she had a tracking chip in her arm to insure she didn't screw up, and a freaking ultimatum. This was her first important mission and if she messed it up, Hightower would not be happy. Oh yeah, she was just dandy. "Ready?"

"Always," Blitz said flipping out his dark wings much like my own.

Max smirked slightly, her own wings unfurling with ease. With a quick glance towards the government building, both Max and Blitz leapt easily into the air. I took a deep breath trying to just relax, still Angel's advice was hard to follow when all I wanted to do was try to make Max turn and attack Blitz.

"Where's his office?" Blitz asked ending my murderous train of thought.

"Third from the right on the fifth floor," Max answered calmly banking her wings slightly to turn. "We'll have to break the lock."

"Got it," Blitz said going ahead of Max and whipping out a blade that sparkled dangerously in the sunlight.

This time I smirked. Even being an assassin, Max still had people doing whatever she said. _Ever the leader, _I thought. It wasn't like it bothered me though. I was more the "you point and I go kick their trash sort of" guy.

"One unlocked window," Blitz said admiring his handy work.

"I don't need a play by play, just check the window for alarms," Max replied completely ignoring Blitz's dismayed look.

"I already did," he replied his mood only temporarily darkened. "I found exactly zero. Ladies first?"

"Bite me," Max answered maneuvering into the window silently.

"Tempting," Blitz grinned following her.

I gritted my teeth trying not to see Blitz's eyes immediately look Max over, probably wondering where to bite, the pervert. Still, as much as I wanted her to, Max didn't react to his sickening actions. It was hard to keep still and let the memory progress when all I wanted was to murder Blitz. Somehow I managed.

"Who puts a window on a closet?" Blitz asked his voice nearly inaudible, though Max's heightened senses still caught it. "Oh well, helps us."

Max nodded slightly taking a deep breath before letting on hand move to the doorknob. I gulped feeling the fingers on her other hand graze the clasp that held the knife holstered to her left shoulder. The cool plastic handle was rough beneath her sensitive fingers and the feeling almost made me want to close my eyes. Did I really want to watch the girl I loved kill a part of her soul? The logical answer was no, and yet I couldn't look away.

"Ready?" she asked Blitz, though I could tell she wouldn't care if his answer was no.

He nodded briskly watching every movement Max made as she reached for the door handle. My heart thumped loudly as the door handle twisted in Max's grip.

The door opened to an office setting, the walls painted a neutral beige color. In fact, everything about the room seemed neutral and controlled. At the mahogany desk in the middle of the room, was a well groomed man in a full gray suit. He was preoccupied talking urgently into his phone and somehow he didn't notice Max or Blitz. This detail sent thrills up Max's spine and I swallowed almost hoping he'd look up and stop them. He didn't.

"Yes, of course Marie," the senator says into his phone. "I realize that. All right, send me the memo and I'll take care of it. Yes, thank you. Good-bye."

"Hello Senator Dempsey," Blitz says calmly as he hangs up the phone.

"Who are you?" the senator asks the alarm showing on his face. As if he needs to ask the question, he already knows the answer.

"That's not important to you," Blitz answers him.

While Blitz is doing all the talking, he seems to like to hear his own voice, Max quickly scanned the room. Her eyes fell on the small framed picture on the desk, the picture of Senator Dempsey, his wife, and their little girl.

"You really can't expect to try to revolutionize the country and not get some backlash," Blitz is still saying. "Unfortunately you pissed off the wrong people."

"Wrong move, senator," Max said ripping her eyes away from the picture on the desk.

"You can't…" the senator starts to plead. He might have well been trying to plead with a brick wall. He won't get far. "I have a family. I won't interfere, please you can't…"

"You seem to assume a lot don't you?" Blitz muttered not at all swayed by the pleas.

"We can and we will," Max said unclipping her knife. Apparently this is Max's assignment, not Blitz's. Blitz is only there to insure the job is done correctly. At least Hightower thought this through.

In a split second, Max's knife flashes out across the space between her and the senator. For a moment, nothing seems different. Then slowly, the senator's face registers horror and slowly, a thin red line spreads across his throat and his blood begins to spurt out across the desk. Horror streaks through me, partially at the scene playing out in front of me, but mostly at Max's cold demeanor.

I watched as Dempsey reached out with one bloodied hand as his other tried vainly to staunch the blood spurting all over his pristine suit. His words are garbled and slurred through the blood, but both Max and I can make out two distinct words.

"My daughter…" he chokes through the crimson flood.

"Won't miss you," Blitz answered adding insult to injury.

I can tell the Senator's last words strike a deeper chord with Max, but she doesn't show it at all. She can't show it. Not here.

"Senator Dem… Oh god," a woman, probably the secretary, called her voice dying in her throat as her boss's limp form came into view.

"No!" Hightower's voice yelled in Max's ear temporarily deafening her. Personally, I'd forgotten he was even aware of what was happening. "You can't leave any witnesses. Kill everyone who sees you. Now!"

"Guess we'll have to split up," Blitz muttered as the secretary took off and immediately phoned security. "This is about to get ugly. It's too bad we can't leave the way we came, but if they see our wings… Oh, well meet me in the storage room second floor. We'll steal id badges and such. Don't get lost."

"I won't," Max shot back. "Don't take forever Blitz."

"A race huh?"

"Sure whatever, let's just get out fast."

"See you in a few then."

A flash of relief flashes through both me and Max as soon as Blitz takes off down the hall in the opposite direction. Max gulped running down the narrow corridor to the stairway. Hopefully, it won't be barricaded. Then again, nothing was ever easy. Hence the blaring alarm that echoed mechanically over the intercom.

"Freeze where you are," a deep voice yelled from behind Max. "I will shoot."

Max slowly lifted her hands in mock surrender and turned around. A young security guard stood about ten feet away watching her hesitantly. His hands were shaking on the grip of his pistol. This twenty year old security guard had no idea that he'd just come in contact with death.

"You're just a girl," he mumbled eyeing Max.

"I'm sorry; can you tell me where the stairs are?" Max replied trying to look innocent despite the fact she was covered in the senator's blood. Still the security guard didn't seem to notice as she maneuvered closer.

"No…you, I have to stop you," he stuttered obviously unsure.

"Why?" Max asked getting closer to him. One more step and she could grab his gun.

"You killed the senator," the security said though his weapon dropped slightly. Wrong move. "You're under arrest."

Max sighed looking away for a split second before darting forward and jerking the gun aside. Unfortunately, not before the twitchy security guard was able to pull the trigger once out of pure nervousness. I feel the bullet graze Max's side as clearly as she does, but surprisingly she doesn't wince or let it bother her. The security guard doesn't miss this and his eyes widened in horror.

"Sorry, but I can't let you arrest me," Max whispered into his ear just before she turns the gun on him and fires twice.

The guard winced in muted pain before dropping to the thin blue carpet. Max watched him drop slowing bleeding to death before turning back to the stairs.

"Up here, they can't have gotten far," voices echoed up the stairs.

Well, that complicated things quite a bit. Spinning around, Max darted into the nearest office to let the other officers pass by.

"I have really got to stop getting shot," Max muttered quickly assessing the damage to her side. Luckily the bullet had only grazed her, but it was enough to sting like a hot poker being pressed to her side.

As the footsteps thundered by outside the door, a soft whimper filled Max's ears. Turning around quickly, Max came face to face with a small girl no older than six or seven. I first noticed the resemblance to Angel the girl had. Her hair was a platinum blonde and fell in ringlets over her shoulders. In some subconscious decision, I could tell Max wasn't about to kill this girl.

"Please," the girl whimpered staring Max directly in the eye.

Apparently it had been some sort of bring your kid to work day, I figured out a second behind Max. This was the same little girl Max had seen in the picture on the senator's desk.

"This changes nothing Max," Hightower's commanding voice said into her earpiece. "You can't leave any witnesses. Kill the girl. She's seen you, she has to die."

Slowly, Max raised the gun clenched in her hand and horror snaked through me. The girl, however, doesn't move and doesn't make a sound.

"Do it, Max," Hightower ordered. "I'm not asking. Kill her now."

With a low growl, Max reached up and yanked the earpiece out of her ear and gently took the small contact lens, basically a tiny camera lens, which acted as Hightower's eyes, out of her eye and shoved it into the small case in her pocket. I cheered as I realized Max wouldn't kill the girl, she couldn't. Hightower hadn't won just yet.

"Look, I need you to do something for me okay?" Max said softly to the little girl.

"Okay," the girl sniffed softly.

"I need you to find a place to hide for a little while," Max instructed the girl just like she would've done to Angel. "And no matter what you might hear, stay there until someone comes and finds you. Can you do that?"

"I think so," the girl mumbled wiping a stray tear on her sleeve.

"Everything will be fine," Max reassured the girl before turning back to the door.

"What are you going to do?"

Max stopped, but didn't turn around. I could tell that having killed this little girl's father was now killing Max. However, she was good at not letting it show. "Don't worry about me," she grinned back over her shoulder.

Without waiting to see what the girl would do, Max checked the hall once before hurrying out into it. She hurriedly slipped the camera lens back into her left eye blinking several times to clear her vision as she replaced the earpiece.

"What was that?" Hightower yelled obviously not liking Max's cutting off his supervision. "I hope for your sake you took care of it."

"It's taken care of," Max muttered silently praying that the microphone didn't pick up the lie.

"It had better be," Hightower retorted. "Now catch up with Blitz."

"Yes sir," Max replied slowly trying to keep her vice even.

With a quick glance backwards, she hurried back towards the stairs. Suddenly, the scene flickered like a movie projector before going completely dark. I was vaguely aware of Max next to me and I figured that was the end of her memory, at least the part she wanted me to see. At least I thought so until the movie resumed. This time, however, it started at a different setting, not picking back up where the previous had left off.

Now, it seemed we were in a small room that looked a lot like a small college dorm room. There was a small desk against the wall, cluttered with different papers and reports in Max's handwriting. The bed against the opposite wall was made perfectly, the simple red cover folded perfectly over a single white pillow. Everything was so organized and basic, so completely unlike Max that it infuriated me.

"Not bad for one of your first runs," Blitz commented leaning against the door frame.

"Don't you ever knock?" Max replied not bothering to acknowledge his attempt at a compliment.

"Sorry," Blitz smirked quickly rapping his knuckles of the door frame twice. "Better? So how's your side? You're like a magnet to bullets, aren't you?"

"Don't I know it, but I'll live," Max muttered throwing her Itex jacket, in fact the exact one that now lay folded in her dresser, on the back of the desk chair.

"Yeah, they're pretty good at fixing us up in the infirmary, eh?" Blitz said forcing a smile.

By now, a feeling that something wasn't quite right flashed through me. It also registered with Max, but it was accompanied with cold fear.

"All right Blitz, you didn't come in here to tell me about the good work in the infirmary," Max said turning to face Blitz, arms folded across her chest. "What's the real motive?"

"Okay you caught me," Blitz conceded throwing his hands up. "Anyway, I was just wondering if you wanted to come flying with me and the boys. It's nice outside, full moon and everything; we don't have to talk or anything. Just something to get you out of your room."

My sense immediately picked up on Blitz's emphasis on the get out of your room part. What did he know? I didn't like where this was going.

"Look Blitz, I'm tired. If you and the team have some stunt planned, fine, but I don't want to be a part of it," Max sighed. "I'd rather just sleep."

She wasn't lying about that part. I could feel the exhaustion making her lethargic as well as lowering her normally sharp senses. In fact, it was only sheer adrenaline that was keeping her standing and talking in coherent sentences.

"Please Max, no stunts I swear," Blitz pleaded a little more urgently as Max turned to the bed.

"Blitz, I said no," she shot back in annoyance.

Blitz sighed in resignation. "Fine, have it your way," he said still pleading with his voice. "I'm sorry Max."

"For what?" she asked turning back to the door where Blitz had been standing, had been being the key terms. The door swung shut behind him leaving Max alone.

_Sorry for bothering me? _She thought with a sigh as she quickly changed into a tank top and a pair of black sweats imprinted with the Itex logo down the side. _Yeah, I doubt it._

Yet, despite all my contempt for Blitz, as Max clicked off the lights and crashed onto the bed, I had a sinking feeling she should've gone with him. Something told me, she wasn't about to get the well deserved rest she needed. Long story short, she shouldn't have stayed in her room.

* * *

I knew something was going to happen, but it wasn't until two hours later, at 2 a.m. that the harsh fluorescent lights clicked on partially blinding a groggy Max.

"Get her," a deep voice she didn't recognize ordered as strong crushing hands grabbed her arms pinning her to the bed. "You have our safety measure correct?"

"Yes sir," came another gruff voice.

Immediately following, three sharp stings infiltrated Max's eyes in the form of some kind of eye drop and suddenly the lights seemed way too bright. The rough hands, however, didn't let go as they dragged her out of bed, slamming her knees into the cold tile floor. I couldn't see anything besides blurry shapes and neither could Max, who was furiously blinking trying to see something, anything but the blinding light.

The arms yanked her up by the shoulders and dragged her out of her room and down the hallway. I had no idea what lay ahead, Max however, had her horrible suspicions.

"In here," the commanding voice growled and I could hear the opening of a door in front of me.

"What the…" Max muttered.

Once again her knees hit the cold floor as her captors threw her into some room. The lights clicked on and Max shut her eyes in pain.

"How's the atropine coming dear?" the voice said with a laugh.

"Atropine…?" she echoed unsure what he was talking about.

"It's a drug commonly used by optometrists to dilate the pupils for extended periods of time. It also causing intolerance to light. In this case, it's effective in ensuring you don't fight back," the voice explained calmly. "You can't fight off what you can't see."

"Why?" Max asked feeling along the floor for something anything that would explain where she was.

"You know why! You were told no witnesses and yet you disobeyed," the voice retorted sharply.

"Hightower…" Max started to slowly object.

"Who said we have any affiliation with that fool?" the man snickered and I could picture the smirk pasted across his filthy features.

Max's throat went dry as the realization hit her. Someone knew she hadn't killed the girl and that someone was going to kill her. She kept her mouth shut, however, until her fingers grazed the man's boots.

"Now we play," he laughed kicking his foot out and hitting Max squarely in the throat.

Her breath came in a choked rhythm and I found myself praying right along with her that Blitz or Hightower would walk in. At the same time, I wondered if Hightower wasn't behind the whole thing. Slowly, Max rose to her feet, hands out in a fighting stance against people she couldn't even see. Part of me wished she'd just play dead so they'd stop, so this would stop.

As she stood, a fist lashed out and caught her squarely in the face and I heard the unmistakable crunch of bone as her nose shattered. She ignored the hot rush of blood and aimed a punch in the direction of the fist.

"Too slow," the voice laughed as he caught her hand and pulled her down into his knee.

As he did, Max managed to glance off his jaw with a well time strike and grinned herself as he growled in pain. Quickly, he grabbed her and threw her into something hard, something that didn't break. Despite that, Max still rose to her feet again. This was not good.

"Can't you make her feel it?" another voice laughed at the main fighter as Max rose to face him again. "You've got to hit harder than that if you want to leave an impression."

"I got it," the main voice snarled applying several punches to Max's ribs along with a kick that flung her into the wall.

I wanted nothing more than to stop this, to help her even though I knew I couldn't. I had no power in a memory, though I can't tell you how badly I wanted it right then.

"You think you're strong?" the man asked his face inches from Max's. "We'll see just how strong you are."

With a short chuckle, he pressed his lips to her cheek briefly before grabbing her and throwing her again. This time, it wasn't empty air she sailed threw, nor the floor that caught her fall. A glass table in the middle of the room instead served that purpose. The sound of glass shattering echoed in my ears as the jagged pieces cut into Max. Even surrounded by a sea of slicing glass, Max still tried to stand back up.

"Oh no you don't," the man said sweeping Max's feet out from under her as he shoved her forward back onto the glass shards. "Hey Jeremy, do you have your gun on you? Hand it over."

I winced as the sound of a gun being cocked filled the room. Max was thoroughly convinced this was it. It a matter of minutes they were going to kill her. That wasn't the part that horrified me, however. It was her cold acceptance of it. It didn't bother her that they were going to kill her. It killed me to see how they'd beaten the fight right out of her.

On her hands and knees in the middle of broken shards of piercing glass, Max was broken and yet, these jerks seemed to need to destroy her further. With a satisfied laugh, the butt of a gun swung down and caught Max inbetween her already painful wings not once, but at least five times. I lost count after that.

"Get up now," the voice taunted.

And against all common sense, Max tried. The man wasn't having any of it. He lashed out once again with the gun and it clipped Max's shoulder sending sparks of fire down her arm. With a grunt, he slammed his foot into Max's ribs knocking the wind out of her completely.

"Let's see you recover from that," the guy's buddy, Jeremy, laughed. "Come on man, let's go before someone comes looking."

"Sure," he replied.

Max lay there on a bed of glass shards trying to breath despite the surety of broken ribs and the fire that ensued every time she inhaled. Everything hurt and I was willing to bet she was one solid bruise. Lying there in a broken heap, Max didn't respond at all until she was sure they were gone. It was only then that silent tears traced her cheeks mixing with her blood before running off her chin. One bit of information made me want to do the same.

Max wanted to lay there and die.

The next few moments of the memory were blurred and hazy as Max drifted somewhere between alertness and unconsciousness.

"I'm sorry, Max," Hightower's voice said somewhere in the mix.

I wanted to punch him. Max didn't recognize the knowing tone he had, but I did. He wasn't sorry, how could he be? He had orchestrated this whole thing. He had let it happen to Max, my Max. I solemnly swore I was going to kill him.

When the memory truly refocused, Max was in the infirmary with an iv drip running into her hand. Everything hurt and nothing seemed to work right. Even breathing was excruciating and threatened to call the tears again. I felt every bit of Max's pain and knowing I couldn't help was making me ache.

"Max?" Blitz's voice this time said softly. "I know you're not asleep."

_No, she's not, but that doesn't mean she'd rather talk to you, _my thoughts screamed at him.

Max's eyes opened a little, but she stayed silent. Blitz calmly clamped the iv full of pain medications and sedatives before saying anything more.

"I need you to be awake for this," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I tried to warn you. I didn't want this to happen. I tried to stop it, but…"

He stopped talking for a moment leaning in closer to Max, running his fingers over her skin just enough to send shivers down Max's spine. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away, didn't move at all. There wasn't even the usual denial of Blitz. She didn't fight him. The fight was gone.

"I love you Max," Blitz mumbled slowly in her ear, and his hands traced her arm. "I want to protect you from all this. I need you to trust me. I'll stop all this from hurting you, I just need you…"

He stopped again this time to lean down and gently kiss Max's lips. His hand gently touched her cheek, avoiding the delicate, battered spots with ease, as he kissed her again. It was killing me to see as his right hand deftly went to Max's, my Max not his, shirt and slid upwards, barely brushing the skin as he went. I wanted to stop him, but I knew I couldn't. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop watching even as it made me sick.

"I need you with me, do you know that?" he said slowly kissing her neck. A pained sound escaped my throat and I tried to ignore Blitz's searching right hand. "I need you to love me."

His words were soft, but I could tell he wanted nothing more than to be as rough as he needed to prove his point to Max. Some inner part of Max rebelled wildly against Blitz touching her anywhere, but I could tell she didn't want to stop him.

"Trust me a little and I'll show you our true potential," he whispered.

Blitz kissed her one last time on the lips as passionately as possible without hurting Max, which in and of itself was a miracle. He turned and removed the clamp from Max's iv and then with a final glance back left the infirmary just as Hightower entered.

"What's the damage?" Hightower asked one of the nurses completely oblivious to Blitz's reasons for being in the infirmary.

"Well, broken nose, ribs, toes, not to mention all the cuts from the glass. Throw in a concussion as well as internal bleeding and tissue damage and you've got a mess. Hell, what's not damaged in someway?" the nurse answered.

The rest of Hightower's discussion with the nurse was drowned out by Max focusing on the steady beep of the monitor supervising her heart.

"No more," a loud voice says suddenly next to me and I blink several times coming back to the present. The voice belongs to none other than Max.

"Max," Angel said softly the tears welling up in her eyes.

I knew I should say something, I needed to say something, but I couldn't. I couldn't find the words.

"No more," Max repeated jerking her arm away from Angel.

Watching her, I felt numb. I needed to tell her I love her, but I couldn't speak. With a final pained glance in my direction, Max spun on her heel turning to the window. Before me or Angel could even move, Max wrenched the window open and jumped out leaving the room in an awkward silence.

"What have I done?" I asked no one in particular.

Angel didn't answer, she didn't have to. I jumped to my feet and headed to the window. The only thing I wanted was to fix this.

"Fang," Angel called in a soft voice.

"Yeah?" I replied my voice ragged.

"Be gentle," Angel said simply.

I nodded climbing out of the window and leaping into the cool air.

* * *

**A/N: So how was it? I hope the whole Angel memory power dealio wasn't too confusing for you. I didn't want to put the whole thing in italics because it would be stupid looking, but I hope you got the transition anyway and liked it. As always, remember to let me know what you think! I live to serve! **

**Blitz: Then why wouldn't you make me a sandwich when I asked?**

**Me: That's not what I mean and you know it. Anyway, you'll get one of Dr. M's homemade chocolate chip cookies, love by Max, if you review! Yay!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So before I set you loose on this next happyful chappie, I just want to know something. How many of you have read the newest little summary deal about FANG? WTF?! I just want to say that if Fang dies I will kill someone, or at least seriously hurt them. I mean who the hell is this Dylan person?! And why does JP think Fang can be replaced? Cause he can't! He's just too sexy and Max needs his sexy ass on daily basis! So Dylan can go die in a dark hole somewhere. Okay, I am calm. Sorry about that. If you haven't read the summary thing then you probably don't want to. It's irritating. Besides that, I can't really think of anything I really wanted to say about this chapter. Sooooooo…I guess I won't. Enjoy and please REVIEW!!!**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 13: Vulnerable**

"So stupid!" I muttered punching the trunk of the tree I was sitting in.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Punching trees isn't a good idea, Max. Too bad I don't care. How could I have been such an idiot? I should've known that showing Fang any of my memories wasn't a good idea. I couldn't just pick out an okay memory because none of them were just okay.

The memory of killing the senator but not his daughter was about as good as it got for me. I had only meant to show Fang that first part, not the consequences of me being an idiot. Even I had tried as hard as humanly possible to erase that particular string of memories. Just thinking about that night made me feel the shards of glass once more and made me shiver as my skin remembered the light touch of Blitz's fingers on me.

To think that I had let Fang see Blitz touching me like that. There was no telling what he thought of me now. I mean, he'd seen that I hadn't fought Blitz off. He'd seen what I'd let Blitz do to me. I quickly slammed my already raw knuckles into the thick, knotted bark of the oak tree.

"I thought we decided you'd stop abusing trees," Fang's voice said from below me.

I glanced down at him with puzzlement obvious on my face. What the hell was he talking about? He grinned up at me, giving me plenty of time to notice the way the sunlight caught his dark eyes and hair making them shine with highlighted accents. Plus his grin was making him nearly irresistible. Only the shame of what he'd seen early kept me out of his arms.

"Sorry, I forgot that you don't remember the little details yet," he said thoughtfully. "Angel got taken away, sort of like you did, and you did exactly the same thing to the nearest tree. Poor trees. Plus you whined like a baby when I dumped hydrogen peroxide on your knuckles."

"I did not," I retorted back.

"So now you remember," he grinned with a wink up at me.

I shook my head turning away from him. He was trying to avoid talking about what he'd seen, but that didn't change the fact that we both knew it. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever, him standing on the ground and me sitting against the tree, neither of us saying anything. Even though I wasn't punching the tree, my knuckles were starting to sting, so I busied myself with pulling the splinters out of them.

"What can I tell you?" Fang muttered softly beneath me.

I turned daring to look down at him. He wasn't looking at me, but was staring off into the distance, his concentration evident on his face. Now what was he talking about?

"What do you need to hear that'll make you believe me?" he asked no one again. "Because I want you to believe me, Max. I want you to believe that I love you enough to not care what you've done."

The concentrated look never leaving his face, his beautiful black wings extended and he flew up to join me on the branch. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but suddenly my heart was pounding violently.

"Fang," I whispered slowly now completely focused on him.

"Maybe its better I don't say anything," he breathed his face inches from mine. "Maybe I can just show you."

Without giving me anytime to think about what he was saying, he closed the distance between us, crushing his lips against mine. For about a millionth of a second I nearly panicked, but I couldn't do it. In one rebellious moment, I chose to defy everyone, even myself. I kissed Fang back, with suffocating intensity. Finally, just when I thought I might just die happy from oxygen deprivation, Fang pulled back just a little bit, a smile dancing across his face.

"You taste like heaven Max," he whispered against my lips.

"But I'm destined for hell," I replied trying to ignore the chills that raced up and down my spine.

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged, his eyes watching me intently. "No one ever said you had to be perfect. I don't want you to be. I love you for every flawed inch of you. You wouldn't be Max if you were perfect."

I couldn't speak, couldn't say anything in response to that. What could I say? I love you didn't seem like enough. With a deep breath, I brushed his shaggy hair from his eyes and kissed him again.

"Don't ever leave me Fang," I breathed, unsure at my choice of words at first. "I need you. I love you."

With a nod, he pulled me into his chest and held me there tightly. "I know I can't erase the things that happened, but I can replace them," Fang said the conviction in his voice deep and resonating.

As if sealing the deal, he leaned down and kissed me again, this time soft and reserved. Still even the softest touch of his lips was enough to make my heart beat wildly out of control. _This is Fang,_ my mind told me. _This is right._

* * *

"No," Blitz mumbled to himself trying to fight back his hot anger.

How could she? How could she kiss that animal? Especially when he'd shown her what kissing a real man was like? How could she?

"I swear to you Maximum, I'm going to enjoy crushing Fang as slowly as possible," Blitz growled softly to himself. "I'm going to enjoy watching his face as he realizes that you can only love me. Then I'm going to kill him."

He focused his eyes on Max and Fang, watching the way she laughed so freely with him, the way her eyes lit up as his lips touched hers was enough to make him sick. What right did Fang have? It wasn't him that Max belonged with. Fang couldn't handle the darker side of Max like he could. _But maybe, that's only because the darker side is there to deal with you, _the pessimistic half of his brain chided him. He chose to ignore it as usual. Max needed him, not Fang. What would it take to convince her of that fact?

"Blitz, hey man are you okay?" Raze asked softly moving to stand next to him. His eyes quickly followed Blitz's line of sight and he immediately understood. "Oh…"

"Raze," Blitz asked evenly, his hands clenching into deadly fists. "Is the team ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"We're going to get Max as soon as possible," Blitz replied with a wicked grin. "It's time to stop waiting."

* * *

"More charge, less fuse," I heard Iggy muttering up ahead as Fang and I walked towards the house.

"What are you doing? Or is it better I don't know?" Fang asked as we came up behind Iggy and Gazzy.

"Um…" Iggy started to say.

"Building a bomb," Gazzy grinned not worried about any consequences. It's not like I remembered them anyway.

"And to think you're actually almost twice his age," Fang muttered rolling his eyes.

"Hey it's not my fault I'm a pyro," Iggy shrugged his fingers nimbly checking the small device to check if Gazzy had gotten it right this time.

"What is it with you two and bombs?" I laughed though honestly I no idea what was so fascinating.

"Well, watching and hearing something go boom is awesome," Gazzy said with a laugh.

"He just loves destruction," Fang interjected.

"Here I'll show you," Gazzy said tossing the detonator at Iggy. "I'll take the bomb over there and once I get back, Iggy will blow it up and then you'll understand."

"Gazzy, I don't know if the bombs ready," Iggy warned though he sure as heck wasn't trying to stop Gazzy that much.

"Hold on," Gazzy grinned taking off away from us.

"Even though you couldn't cure his obsession with bombs, at least you managed to drill the rule of not blowing things up near buildings, people, etc. into his head," Fang said rolling his eyes.

"I did?" I said glancing in the direction that Gasman had taken off.

"Oh if you don't remember his explosives addiction, you will soon," Iggy grinned.

"Like you're one to talk," Fang retorted grabbing at Iggy.

"Don't be jealous," Iggy said ducking beneath Fang's arm with a laugh as he shoved Fang away.

I smiled enjoying their brotherly banter when Gazzy came running back.

"I took it way…out there," he said happily though he was wheezing for breath.

"What kind of bomb is it exactly?" Fang asked releasing Iggy from his chokehold.

"I just reverse engineered a firework," Gasman said nonchalantly as he grabbed the detonator.

"Wait, what?" Fang and Iggy asked as Gazzy flipped the switch.

Now, if you've ever been to see fireworks and seen a decent grand finale, the kind that leaves you deaf for several minutes afterwards, then I'm sure you can imagine the resulting bang that went off as soon as Gaz pushed the button. Now add in dirt flying everywhere and you've got one homemade Gasman bomb. I was smart to have tried to cure the obsession. Plus the sparkling colors that flashed in front of my eyes made me slightly sick to my stomach. Immediately I was assaulted by a random memory. Seriously, I needed a warning for these.

_"Can I talk to you?" Fang asks standing over me. _

_"Can it wait?" I hear myself ask in return. _So far as I can tell, Fang is pissed. He's as tense as a coiled spring though I have no idea why.

_"No."_

_I sigh following him outside. _

_"Okay, let's have it out," I say. _Can I just say, I'm really not liking where this memory is heading?

_"Choose now," he says, his eyes radiating his anger. _Anger at me? _"Me or him."_

What the heck does that mean? Ooookay… Fast forward a few minutes and let's continue.

_Now Fang is in my face, which with him being taller than me is rather scary. This time, he doesn't kiss me, doesn't hardly touch me at all._

_"You're making your worst mistake," he snarls. "And it's gonna cost you. You'll see."_

"Max? You okay?" I heard Fang asking but I couldn't seem to focus my eyes on him. "Another memory?"

I managed to nod my head with a choked sound before falling forward letting Fang catch me. He held me up letting me lean against him for support. What had that memory been all about? Note to self: don't piss Fang off and ask him why he was pissed off.

"Um…Max?" Gazzy mumbled as he shifted nervously from foot to foot. "I actually didn't know that would happen."

"It's okay Gazzy," I said softly finally finding my voice. He was ten for heaven's sake, so I just tried not to remember that he knew exactly what he was doing. "Just don't explode those bombs next to your head okay?"

He nodded still eyeing me with a mix of emotions on his face. I tried to smile weakly at him, but my head was killing me.

"Sorry," he said softly.

"Max?" Fang said hesitating as if he wondered whether trying to listen to him hurt worse than the memory alone. It did, but I didn't want to tell him that. Still my mouth wouldn't work and Fang sighed lifting me up honeymoon style. His gait was quick and even as he headed back to the house hoping Ella wouldn't make a smart remark about the way he was carrying me I'm sure.

"Fang, what're you doing?" Dr. Martinez asked from her stance on the porch. "Is it another memory?"

"Yeah," I heard him reply shortly. "I was going to take her to her room, so she can lie down for a while."

"Okay," Val said looking unsettled. "Jeb, Angel, and I were going to run to the store, but I can stay."

"No, its okay," Fang said quickly glancing down at me as I squirmed in his arms. It was hard to try and focus on Fang and fight off the memory at the same time. Once glance at Fang and I could tell what was going through his mind. He was thinking about my old brain attacks. Yes I remembered those because I still got them at the Compound, although these random bursts of memory weren't much better.

"Well, Ella, Nudge, and Iggy are around and I have my phone if you need anything," she said her gaze flipping from Fang to me and back again.

Fang nodded and said something, but by then my head hurt too much to hear. Angel came dancing out the door behind Val dragging Jeb by the hand. I was vaguely aware of her bouncing over to where Fang stood cradling me in his arms. She smiled warmly at both of us and I wondered whether or not she had forgiven me for earlier as fast as Fang had.

"Don't worry about it, Max," Angel laughed. Obviously she had.

She giggled leaning up onto her tiptoes to kiss my forehead before racing back to Val and Jeb who were standing with looks of confusion on their faces. "They'll be fine," Angel told Val as she took her hand. "Pinkie swear."

"All right let's get this show on the road," Jeb laughed lifting Angel up onto his shoulders. "Tell you what; we'll bring back a movie or something."

Dr. Martinez threw a pointed look at Fang that meant who knew what before trailing after Jeb and Angel. Fang sighed heading inside and up the stairs. I smiled to myself as he maneuvered delicately opening to door trying not to drop or bump me against anything and headed towards the bed. We were so close when pain tore through my head again making me jerk violently. Unfortunately, Fang lost his hold and dropped me onto the bed. Unfortunately again, my foot jerked out hitting his knee, buckling it, and sent him sprawling across the bed nearly on top of me. Not that I cared. When your head hurts like mine did at that moment, you're not exactly worried about suggestive positions that your best friend has fallen into, though maybe I should have been.

"Fang?" I mumbled softly opening my eyes enough to see him jerk up to a less suggestive position.

He looked down at me and I noted the concern in his eyes before squeezing my own tightly shut. "Yeah?"

"Do you have any aspirin on you?"

"No, but I can go get some."

"Do that," I panted my body rigid and my hands clenched into tight fists.

I didn't see him get up and leave, but I felt the bed rise where he was sitting and the room went silent. I didn't know what he could do anyway. Nothing seemed to stop these random attacks and any amount of stress only seemed to make them worse. Just imagine a bad migraine and make it at least twice as bad. Then you might see what I mean. When I was at the Compound I seemed to usually get one right after or right before an assignment or depending on the assignment, both. Lucky me, huh?

Fang returned after a minute or so. He slowly walked to my side and I managed to open my eyes enough to seem the grimace etched into his perfect face. It was times like this that I really wished I knew what he was thinking.

"I've got the aspirin," he whispered and I guess he thought maybe sound only aggravated the pain. I couldn't tell either way.

I opened my mouth obediently, but didn't move otherwise. I would have smiled if possible as he gently eased me into more of a sitting position and helped me swallow the pills. Like a gentleman, he held the small cup to my lips until the water was gone. Fang eased me back onto the pillow and the look on his face was completely unreadable. Cue the wanting to know his thoughts right now. He shook his head quickly and watched me intently.

"This is pleasant," I grimaced through clenched teeth as I slowly opened my eyes completely. Thank the lord for Excedrin, otherwise how would I get rid of the leftover ache in my brain?

"It shouldn't be too unfamiliar," Fang said his eyes never leaving me. "You used to have…"

"Brain attacks," I finished for him. "I still got them at the Compound. I don't know why. They were afraid it was my expiration date kicking in, but apparently I…we don't have one."

He looked at me quizzically but didn't say anything.

"Jeb didn't give us one, even when they told him to. He cared even when I didn't remember him," I explained pulling my knees up and hugging them tightly to my body.

"He has a funny way of showing it," Fang muttered under his breath. He went on quickly not giving me a chance to reply. "The aspirin seemed to help."

"Still hurts, but yeah, it's getting better already," I agreed watching him now. "So are you going to ask what I remembered?"

"I figured you'd tell me if you wanted to," he replied nonchalantly.

"It was about you," I mumbled. _Well duh, Max, _I thought. _What memories aren't about Fang?_

"Oh?" he replied trying to wipe dirt off his cheek with his equally dirty shirt.

"You're making it worse," I grinned at the way the dirt smeared across his face.

"And you're changing the subject," he grinned back, "but would you mind if I changed my shirt?"

"Sure," I replied.

He nodded hurrying out of my room and into his own. I sighed sitting up on the bed, flexing my irritated muscles. Apparently, they don't appreciate being clenched so tightly for any length of time. I quickly glanced at my clothes covered in their own fair amount of dirt. Not really caring all that much, I busied myself with brushing it off.

Still, what was I going to ask Fang? Oh I had a memory and you were pissed at me. How come? No, that probably wasn't the best method. I really didn't think I wanted to get him angry at me again.

"Still alive?" he asked walking back into my room. He was in the middle of pulling on a black AC/DC shirt. How fitting…

"Yeah," I said trailing off as I noticed three long, perpendicular scars running from his collar bone down across his spine and ending at his hip. I swallowed audibly as the obvious conclusion hit me. Fang had gotten those scars because of me. "Hey Fang, hold on."

"What?" he asked his voice muffled through the cotton fabric.

"Take your shirt off," I said.

"Look Max, I don't think…"

"Oh, just humor me."

He did with a sigh. He quickly realized why as his eyes followed mine.

"You want to know about this," he said making it more of a statement of fact rather than a question. "Okay, I'll tell you about this, but first you tell me what you remembered."

I sighed. That was Fang for you. The king of ultimatums. It's really not fair to anyone when he does that.

"I don't know how to explain," I muttered feeling the emotions, regret, annoyance, worry, hurt, from the memory come rushing back.

"Try," he said calmly sitting on the edge of my bed.

"You wanted to talk to me," I started slowly unsure I wanted him to know. "You were angry, obviously, and you told me to choose."

"Oh, that," he muttered. "I was hoping that you wouldn't remember that. Figures."

"I don't…" I started watching him fidget nervously. Normally I was the one doing all the fidgeting.

"It was your brother, Ari," Fang said suddenly. I couldn't tell whether he was angry, resentful, or some unknown emotion. Go figures, I still can't tell what he's feeling.

"My brother…" I echoed numbly. I didn't have a brother. Did I?

"Well, your half brother," he corrected himself. "He would be nine now if they hadn't turned him into an eraser and…killed him. Unlike us, I guess, he had an expiration date."

"Oh," I said not sure whether I should cry or something. I hadn't even known I'd had a brother until two seconds ago, but learning he was dead seemed to tug on some locked memory in my head. What it was I had no idea.

"I was angry with you because he was with us," Fang explained looking ready to hit himself. "I just figured he'd tried to kill us one too many times and you letting him join us, well, I couldn't get that. So I made you choose and you stubbornly refused to make him leave."

"And you left just like you said you would," I said slowly piecing together the moment, though I still couldn't see Ari, my brother, involved anywhere.

"I guess we're both stubborn jerks right?"

"Speak for yourself," I replied forcing a grin.

"You'd be right there. I just left and didn't care," he said with a sigh. "I was in California and you were in Germany. It was so wrong to split up, but I…was an idiot. Then you were in trouble and I couldn't help you. I left you to save yourself and you ended up watching your brother die in your arms."

"I don't believe you," I said evenly.

"It's true, all of it," Fang answered meeting my eyes hesitantly, "which is why I was hoping you wouldn't remember it."

I took a deep breath staring out the window. Part of me, maybe the old part, wanting to shake him and demand to know how he could just leave, but another part didn't, couldn't see him doing it. The confusing battle in my head only made me hate the fact I couldn't remember everything more than I already did.

I swallowed quickly trying to make the sandpaper in my throat disappear. As I did, Fang slowly stood up and began to walk to the door. For a moment, I considered letting him go, but before I could let that thought get any further I heard myself yell at him.

"Fang," I said.

"Yeah?"

"You left your shirt," I said quickly looking for anything to make him stay. I waited for him to walk back to the bed and pick up his shirt before I went on. "And you didn't explain your scar."

He nodded sitting back down, "You really want to know?"

I took my turn to nod quickly. "What happened?"

"I called your name," Fang said simply.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"They day they took you, I was outside and they caught me. Angel came running outside with your mom and Ig trailing behind her. You were in your room, reading I think, and you had no idea. The Eraser grabbed my shoulder and I jerked away from him and his claws tore this piece of work. As they did, I yelled your name and you didn't even bother with the stairs. You crashed out that window ready to kick ass and take names until you saw," Fang explained. "The moment they threatened to kill me and the Flock, all the fight drained out of you. Watching them hurt me, that's when he tore the ligaments in my shoulder like I told you before; you were practically begging them to take you so they would stop.

"You don't know how many times I've wished I hadn't called your name," he finished in a low voice.

"I would've come anyway," I replied adamantly. Was this how Fang had felt trying to convince me in the cave?

"True," Fang said trying to force back a grin. "You are stubborn like that, which is why you wouldn't listen to my begging."

"Stubborn huh?" I echoed trying to think of a way to lighten the mood, to stop Fang from being mad at himself. "In that case, I'm even more stubborn now, and I don't listen to begging at all."

"Oh really?"

"Not even if you cry."

"I don't cry."

"You might," I smirked. "If I did to you what I did to Blitz."

"Did he cry?" Fang asked playing along.

"He might have, but I'll never tell."

"You might," Fang said using my exact words.

"I doubt it," I rolled my eyes.

"You might," Fang said again, this time finishing his thought. "If I do this."

Then without warning, he grabbed me and began fiercely tickling. Now, I could've kicked his butt, I really could've. I just want you all to know that I let him catch me off guard. I'm never surprised. Okay, maybe once in a while, but I let him this time. I swear and do I look like I'd lie? Don't answer that on second thought.

"Do you surrender?" Fang demanded not stopping his tickling for a second.

"No," I wheezed trying to talk through my laughter.

"Well then," Fang laughed, "some assassin you make."

I laughed along with him, but I didn't fail to notice the way his hands deftly avoided any scars he knew of. I doubted he was doing it on purpose, but Blitz wouldn't have bothered. Another reason I love my mutant bird boy.

"How about now?"

"Do I surrender you mean?"

"Sure if that's what you want to think."

"Not on your life," I said shoving him off me.

His eyes widened in surprise as he fell backwards, sliding off my bed in the process, and landed on the floor with a loud thud. I found this extremely funny, him not so much.

"That was unfair," he mumbled feigning being angry.

"Well then," I mimicked him, "some assassin you'd make."

"Sure," he grinned.

"Still, I think you deserve this," I said leaning over and kissing him gently.

Fang moved back up onto the bed, never losing contact with my lips for a second. Finally, when neither of us could breathe he pulled back.

"We're even now?" he asked softly.

"For now," I replied. "But you have a lot of catching up to do."

"Make up work for the past two years eh?"

"Exactly."

He smirked, "I think I can handle that."

He calmly leaned over, brushing my hair away from my face, and proceeded to short circuit my brain a little more. My poor little brain cells… Too bad I could've cared less for their well being at that moment.

* * *

**A/N: Happy days, another one done! Confetti! Or not… So anyway, we're getting closer to Blitz crashing the party and then things will definitely heat up. So hold on for one more chapter and then you'll see! Until then, remember to review! I could live off reviews! Okay, I probably couldn't but still. If it were possible I would live off Fanax and reviews and you wouldn't want to deprive me of life would you? Haha!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay, I know what you're all thinking. 'What took you so long?' or something like it. Well, I must admit that I kinda forgot and now I've discovered that my beloved flash drive with this story typed on it has vanished. I have searched high and low, but I can't find it! Luckily, I had a hard copy that I'd printed for my friend, but unfortunately this means I must retype everything I had from this point on, so bear with me if I'm slow. I think I'm going to get carpal tunnel… Tragedy! But I will press on just for everyone who enjoys reading this! *poses heroically* Anyway, on with the chapter! It's not much, just some innocent Max and Flock bonding time, so I hope you like it!**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 14: Calm Before The Storm**

"Max, Fang!" Nudge yelled bursting into Max's room without so much as a knock. "Oh sorry, am I interrupting something?"

As I pulled back from Max, my fingers fumbling for my shirt, I'm sure my face displayed a guilty look. This was the second time I'd been caught in an "interesting" position with Max. Not that I'd been doing anything, but Nudge's mind wanders quite a bit. I blame Max for her dirty mind just so everything's clear.

"Don't you ever knock?" I muttered under my breath.

"Oh sorry," Nudge retorted sarcastically. She quickly stepped out of the room, knocked on the door frame, and strolled back in. "Better?"

I rolled my eyes at her as I pulled on my shirt. There's no sense in explaining anything to Nudge, it goes in one ear and out the other. I doubt it even stops at her brain. She's learned to well from another stubborn, sarcastic Avian girl that I know.

"Well, anyway," Nudge announced ignoring me and turning to Max. "We're back from the store-"

"Obviously," I muttered sitting on the edge of the bed.

Nudge flashed me a glare but quickly continued. "We bought popcorn, drinks, and oh! I didn't know what you liked to drink Max, so I got your old favorite and I hope that's okay because I didn't know. If you don't like it there's other stuff, so…"

"It's fine Nudge," Max cut in. She had caught on quickly to the fact that Nudge could go on for hours. I still think we should try gagging her sometime.

"Okay, well we rented Transformers to watch," Nudge said. "Have you see that? I haven't but I heard it was really good and Gazzy said he didn't want a mushy romance movie, so we got it and… Anyway," she went on noticing my exasperated look, "we're going to watch it as soon as Jeb gets the DVD set up."

"Thanks Nudge," Max smiled. "We'll be down in a second."

"Or not…" I mumbled as Nudge skipped out of the room. "If I have to listen to that again…" I mimicked killing myself samurai style. "You'll have to cut off my head."

"Yeah, right," Max rolled her eyes at me.

"Please?" I begged. "Or maybe you could just make it quick with a bullet or something."

The moment I said it I regretted it. I'd easily forgotten how touchy Max was about that particular subject.

"No," she replied with a grin that didn't touch her eyes.

I quickly changed the subject, "Shall we go watch a movie then?"

"You haven't seen it before right?"

"Nope."

"Okay, thanks Fang."

"For what?"

She didn't answer me, but gave me a smile and took my hand, pulling me along with her. As we walked into the living room downstairs, Jeb glanced up with a frustrated look as he wrestled with the new DVD player. We'd bought it forever ago, but hadn't bothered to watch many movies.

"Can you remember where this cord goes Fang?" Jeb asked holding up one of many long dark cords.

"Sure," I shrugged moving to help him.

"Thanks," Jeb smiled. "I'm not much of an electronics genius. I can type on a computer and work a remote for the TV, but that's about it. So Max, Fang hasn't bored you out of your skull yet right?"

"Whatever," I snorted wiggling back behind the TV to reach the other various cords.

"Nope, I'm good," Max answered watching me in amusement.

"Well, that's good," Jeb said. "He's back to being himself again. I like that."

"So uh…Jeb…er…Dad?" Max began glancing over at me momentarily.

"You can call me whichever is more comfortable for you," Jeb assured her.

"Okay," Max replied. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Jeb said taking a seat on the couch and gesturing for Max to sit next to him.

"Can I ask about Ari?"

"Ah," Jeb nodded slowly. Talking about his son was still a painful subject for Jeb since he hadn't been the father of the year to him. Still, it was better for her to ask Jeb rather than me. "You deserve to know."

"I didn't know I even had a brother until Fang told me," Max said as she sat next to Jeb.

"True, you wouldn't remember him," Jeb said reaching for him wallet. He reached in a pulled out a worn photo. "That's one of the few pictures I have of all of us. That was back before I got you out of the School."

I finished what I was doing and moved to stand behind Max and Jeb, curious to see this picture. Jeb was in the center of the picture holding, I assumed, baby Angel, and grinning broadly. Max, who looked about ten, stood in front of Jeb with little Gasman and Ari holding both hands. Iggy, his perfect vision blue eyes beaming, stood with Nudge on his shoulders on Jeb's left, Nudge happily giving Ig bunny ears, and I was standing with my typical half smile on Jeb's right side. We were all so young and innocent in the picture, it took me a minute to recognize any of us.

Jeb handed the picture to Max and pulled out another. This one was of Max and Ari only. Ari was on Max's shoulders laughing about something and Max was smiling up at him.

"This is my favorite," Jeb said his voice cracking slightly. "I never meant for what happened to happen. I didn't want them to make him an Eraser, but I couldn't protect both of you. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I should've at least been there when it happened."

"It didn't hurt him," Max mumbled her eyes a million miles away. I quickly recognized the look of a memory. "I held him."

"I know," Jeb said softly. "I'm glad you were there, you were better to him than I ever was."

"No, I wasn't," Max said guiltily. "I hated him."

"You didn't hate him, you hated what he had become," Jeb said pulling Max into a hug. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away. "You hate what I let him become and I'm sorry."

"Let's watch this movie already," Ella grinned pulling Iggy by the hand into the room.

"Glad to have you back Max," Jeb whispered as he released her. "I missed you."

"Me too," she answered with a thoughtful smile.

"We've got popcorn!" Angel announced bouncing into the room. "I call to sit by Max, no battle!"

"That's no fair," Nudge said looking put out.

"Yeah, Angel," Gazzy piped up. "I get to sit on her other side then!"

"Sorry Gaz," I said with a shrug. "I claim that right."

"You can't do that," Gasman retorted.

"And yet I will," I replied watching him stick his tongue out at me.  
"No fighting boys," Val said carrying a huge bowl of popcorn. "I don't think Max is going anywhere, so you'll all get to sit by her."

"Fang always does," Gazzy grumble with a sad look on his face.

"Here," Max said pulling Angel onto her lap and pulling Gaz down next to her.

"You pushover," I smiled sitting on her other side.

"Bit me," she shot back. "Just because you think you can keep me all to yourself."

"Can't I?" I smirked slipping my arm around her.

She simply rolled her eyes at me choosing not to comment.

"Any day now people," Iggy said impatiently. If you're wondering how Ig can watch a movie, I have to say his sight is improving quite a bit. He can make out shapes and colors so as long as the volume is cranked and Ella fills him in, he's good to go. You'd be amazed how much of the movie he can rattle off after it's over.

Finally, once everyone was settled, we were ready to start. Jeb, Val, and Nudge were on the couch, Iggy was in the recliner with Ella on his lap, supposedly for help with the movie, and Max, with Angel, Gazzy, and I were on the floor. We were all quite snug together.

"Just like old times," Nudge giggled happily.

"Shut up," Gaz muttered. "It's starting."

I rolled my eyes glancing over at him. He was watching the screen intently and I had to wonder how long that'd last. I swear he has the attention span of a goldfish sometimes.

"Hey Max," he whispered as a helicopter flew across the screen. "Have you ever been in a helicopter?"

"Gazzy," Nudge said now reprimanding him.

"Yeah, I have Gaz," Max whispered back to him.

"Oh, cool," he answered with a ridiculous grin plastered on his face.

I had a feeling he was going to be talking to Max through the whole movie. I wasn't surprised. Every two minutes he was asking her something. Even Nudge's record was almost in danger. Almost being the key word there.

"With the All Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. Fate has yielded its reward; a new world to call home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret waiting, protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eyes. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We are waiting…"

The last line of the movie echoed around the room and I stretched out my legs. I smiled as Max gave my hand a tight squeeze.

"Angel's asleep," she whispered shifting Angel to her other arm, "and so is my arm."

"Want me to…?" I started.

"I think I can handle her," Max interrupted refusing to let me help.

"No sacrifice, no victory," Gasman said with a broad grin, perfectly mimicking Shia LeBouf as Sam Witwicky.

"Whatever you say kiddo," Jeb said tousling Gazzy's hair. "I think it's time for bed. It's almost eleven.'

"Already?" Val asked glancing over at the clock.

"Time flies," Jeb chuckled. "No pun intended."

"Sure it wasn't," Val laughed. "Well, come on then my mutant children. Off to bed."

"So I'm exempt from going to bed?" Ella asked looking overly comfortable on Iggy's lap.

"In your dreams," Ig said standing and nearly dumping her on the floor.

"Jerk," Ella retorted sticking her tongue out at him though her effort was in vain.

I smirked back at them before following Max's lead to the stairs as she carried Angel.

"Crap!" Nudge said quickly running ahead. "Our room's a disaster area."

"I'm sure it's nothing Max hasn't seen before," I said rolling my eyes.

After several minutes, Nudge reappeared to let Max tuck Angel in, amongst all the assorted animals and whatnot.

"I guess it's not as bad now," Nudge muttered softly.

I highly doubted Max cared what their room looked like, but Nudge looked almost insane as she eyed the clutter on the floor. Not that it mattered, Max was too busy looking at the pictures on the walls. Some were framed photos and others were drawn by Angel. I recognized the chain of pictures I also had in my room from the photo booth at the mall when we had all crammed in together. It had worked until we tried to get out.

"That was a fun picture," Nudge smiled following Max's gaze. "We should get a more recent one. In fact, we should go to the mall tomorrow."

"What about the mall?" Ella asked.

"We should take Max tomorrow," Nudge quickly explained.

"That would be fun. If you want to of course Max," Ella said elbowing me in the ribs as I opened my mouth to warn Max.

I thought someone needed to warn her. I mean Ella, Nudge, and Angel at the mall was fun and all…until they started to get you to try clothes and cologne on. Yes, they'd done that to me on more than one occasion. Of course we hadn't been in a long time, so I'd had a bit of a reprieve.

"Sure why not?" Max nodded. "If Fang comes that is."

She had to add that little ultimatum on, didn't she? Of course…

"Fang?" Ella asked turning on me with a look that said say no and I'll kill you.

"Do I get a choice?"

"That's the closest you're going to get to a yes," Nudge said rolling her eyes at me.

"Despite Mr. Party Pooper there, we're going to have fun. Promise," Ella smiled.

I was going to have to tell Max exactly what she'd gotten herself into later.

"We should go inform Iggy," Ella chuckled evilly.

"I'm sure he'll love it," I muttered sarcastically.

"Why?" Max whispered as I clicked off the light and led her to the door.

"I'll have to explain before we go tomorrow because there's no way to weasel out of it now," I said. "Believe me, I've tried."

"Oh."

"You're the one who said yes."

"Hey Max?" Angel's quiet voice called.

"Yeah?" Max replied turning around.

Angel was sitting up watching Max with a pleading look in her eyes, her head barely visible over the animals. "Will you…um…sing to me?"

I looked from Max to Angel wondering what was going through Max's head. She looked almost scared for a moment, but her face broke quickly into a warm smile. Only Angel could do that to Max. Then again, Max would only be caught singing for Angel.

"I don't know any good lullabies," she told Angel. "I'm not the best singer either."

"That's okay," Angel shrugged.

I leaned against the door frame so I wouldn't be noticed too much and watched as Max sat on the edge of the bed. Angel immediately snuggled up next to her.

"Well, here goes nothing," Max sighed with a nervous look.

Nudge quickly snuck past me and jumped onto her bed, silent for once. She seemed intent on hearing this too. But then, so did I.

"Your baby blues, so full of wonder," Max started to sing softly. "Your curly cues, your contagious smile. And as I watch you start to grow up. All I can do is hold you tight."

I glanced up from the spot on the floor I'd been scrutinizing. Not only was Max amazing at what she was doing, but I knew this song. It was a haunting melody from past days at the School. I remember being stuffed into our tiny cages, the only light from the slightly open door, the only sounds apart from soft breathing from a whitecoat's radio. My cage had been right next to Max's and she had started singing with the song playing on the radio. It had started for Iggy, he's lost his vision that morning, but it ended up for all of us. I had completely forgotten until now.

"Knowing clouds will raise up, storms will race in, but you will be safe in my arms," Max continued oblivious to what she was singing. "Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around, but you will be safe in my arms."

"Is that…?" Iggy whispered almost inaudibly appearing next to me.

I nodded quickly unsure what else I could.

"I almost forgot," Ig breathed easing to the floor.

"Me too," I said following suit.

Slowly, I noticed Gazzy meander in. He was completely focused on Max as he maneuvered past Ig and I at the door and climbed up on Angel's bed next to Max. It was just like it had been the first time Max had sung to us. Only we were much older and the cages were now gone. Finally, I understood. I understood why Max had gone with Itex two years ago. She had been accepting a cage, so that we could stay free of ours. As I continued to listen to her, I wanted nothing more to free her of her cage and keep her out of it forever.

"Story books full of fairy tales, kings and queens and the bluest skies. My heart is torn just in knowing, you'll someday see the truth from lies," Max went on unaware of the audience. "Knowing clouds will raise up, storms will race in, but you will be safe in my arms. Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around, but you will be safe in my arms."

I glanced around at the rest of the entranced Flock and noticed that Ella, Val, and Jeb had joined us. No one said a word, I didn't think anyone could.

"Castles they might crumble, dreams may not come true, but you are never all alone because I will always, always love you," Max finished the final chorus, her voice getting softer as she brushed Angel's hair from her face. "Clouds will raise up, storms will race in, but you will be safe in my arms. Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around, but you will be safe in my arms…"

"Oh Max," Val whispered. "That was beautiful."

Max glanced up and her face flushed red as she finally noticed the audience surrounding her. "Thanks," she whispered.

I slowly stood up and crossed the small distance to her. Her face continued to deepen in color as she waited for me to say something. "You remembered that song?"

"I guess," she shrugged. "It just came to me."

"Thank you," I said pulling her into my arms.

Iggy came up behind me to take his turn. Max hugged us both, though she looked confused as to what we were thanking her for. I'd have to explain later. Right now, with all of us together, I could almost pretend those two years without Max had never happened. The never should have. I wasn't going to let anything like it happen again.

Yet, somewhere in the back of my mind, I couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. A feeling like something was waiting to happen and this; this momentary peace was only the calm before the storm. That storm was going to bring us to our breaking point.

* * *

**A/N: So yeah, there you go. Yay! I realized that it's nothing to dramatic, but I thought that I needed to add some serious Max and Flock time. So I did. Go me. I thought it was cute and I hope you did to!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Now we're getting to the action peoples! Yay! Anyway, a fun trip to the mall is about to become a complete disaster. In this chapter, we find our heroes doing strange things such as: Max asking for condoms, Iggy and Fang trying on lingerie; Blitz wreaking some havoc, and more. Want to know more? You'll just have to read the chapter! Have fun and remember to review after!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Maximum Ride… If I did, I'd be hanging out with her and the Flock in flippin' Hawaii or Jamaica drinking smoothies out of a coconut with a little umbrella and a bendy straw. Sadly, I'm not in Hawaii, thus I'm freezing my butt off, therefore I don't own what JP does. *tears***

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 15: Downtown Disaster**

"Up and at 'em gentlemen," Blitz grinned kicking Switch, who was passed out beneath a tree. He, unfortunately, had been nearest to Blitz's boot.

"What's going on Blitz?" Raze asked as he stretched out.

"Mission's up," Blitz chuckled folding his arms across his chest.

"That explains a lot," Kyle grunted pulling his boots on. "A mission is the only thing that switches you on. Problem is, you can't switch off."

Blitz flashed a dark look at Kyle, but even that wasn't enough to dampen his mood. Finally, his opportunity had come. He was going to take Max back, and he was going to make sure it destroyed her "boyfriend." He had wanted to kill Fang slowly, but with his limited schedule, he had to pick up the pace.

"What exactly are we doing?" Raze asked gruffly. Raze was all business, all the time when it came to a mission. And Kyle thought Blitz had a problem with switching off.

"We're going shopping boys," Blitz laughed to himself enjoying the confusion that quickly spread across the others' faces.

"We're what?" one of the men Hightower had sent piped up. Blitz didn't know his name, but he was already irritated with him.

"Um…Blitz, man," Switch said sounding anxious. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Blitz shot back annoyance flooding his system. "Now hurry it up. We're leaving in ten. Anyone not ready to go, I will personally shoot. Got it?"

"Yes sir," came the unified response.

Blitz smirked as he watched his crew speed up. His luck was finally shaping up and this was proving to be a better day than most. "I hope you're ready Max," he muttered to himself. "Cause this time, you're going to get the full Blitzkrieg and I'm not holding back."

"Blitz," Raze asked appearing at his side. "What's your plan?"

"We're just going to enjoy the mall," Blitz answered calmly if not a little darkly.

In fact, Blitz expected to downright love the mall.

* * *

"Behold, I give you the mall!" Ella announced as we approached a large building.

Immediately, despite Fang's reassurances that he wouldn't leave my side, my stomach leaped into my throat. There was only a ton of people filtering in and out of the automated doors. Already my senses were trying to focus on every one of them, trying to assess threats and plotting escape routes. Still, I was going to have to face this eventually and any other time I might not have the entire Flock as backup. Besides that, my only option was wait outside, which wasn't as appealing since the weather had decided to drench the world in water today.

"I'm hungry," Gazzy suddenly announced as soon as Ella had led us into the food court.

"When aren't you hungry?" Ig asked sarcastically.

"We should play the dare game then," Angel said quickly. "Then whoever loses has to buy lunch."

"Hmmm, sounds good," Nudge agreed looking to me.

"The what game?" I asked in complete confusion.

"It's a stupid game," Fang interjected quickly.

"Only if you're chicken," Ella confronted him.

"Are you?" Iggy asked as Gasman began clucking like a chicken.

"No, but Max doesn't wa-" Fang started to protest though it was obvious he wasn't getting far.

"Then you can tell her the rules," Nudge said winking at me. "I'm sure she won't mind. Right Max?"

"Um…sure?" I nodded. Hey, anything to get my mind away from its systematic sweep of the surrounding area sounded like a good plan to me. "Explain away."

"You really don't have to play if you don't want to," Fang shrugged as the rest of the Flock played rock, paper, scissors to see who would start.

"I'd rather play than let my mind wander," I hinted hoping he would get my point.

"Okay," he relented. "Just remember, there's no mercy in this game."

"No mercy," I repeated. "Got it."

"Ig's first so hurry up," Ella said impatiently elbowing Fang.

"It's pretty self explanatory," Fang explained quickly. "We decide who goes first, and they pick someone to dare. That person has to carry out the dare to the letter, no cheating or whining and if they complete the dare, then they choose the next person to dare."

"And if they don't do the dare?"

"Then they lose and have to, in this case, buy everyone lunch," Fang replied. "I think that's mostly it. If there's anything I missed, I can explain on the run. It's easier to learn as you go."

"Why do I have a feeling this could get scary?" I wondered aloud. Not that I was going to back out. With half the things I've done, I could definitely take this on.

"Because it can and it will," Fang warned. "It's basically make the others cave with a horrible dare before they get you."

"Oh great," I said with a smile. "And who invented this game?"

"You did," Fang laughed seeing my face.

"Note to self, go back in time and have a talk with myself," I said rolling my eyes.

"I don't think you'd listen."

"Too stubborn," Ig said interrupting our discussion. "May we start now your highness? I've got a good one."

"Sure, I've got the basic idea," I nodded.

"Not yet," Ig said ominously. "But you will, oh you will."

"Bring it on," I challenged with a grin.

"Okay," Ig said clearing his throat to get everyone's attention. "Gaz, you're first."

"Let's hear it," Gasman said his tone serious and focused.

"I dare you to walk into that store and act completely gay," Ig grinned triumphantly. "You also have to talk to three salespeople and three random customers of your choice."

"That's it?"

"Well let's see it bird boy."

Gazzy rolled his eyes at him before charging into the nearest Pac Sun. I must say he looked hilarious. The cashier looked downright offended when he asked if the leather jacket came in pink. I couldn't hold the laughter in any longer.

"I take it back," I wheezed. "This is hilarious."

"Until it's your turn," Fang replied the look in his eyes mischievous as hell.

Moments later, Gazzy marched victoriously back towards us. "My turn," he grinned. "Let's see. Angel, I dare you to go up to five random strangers and profess your undying love for them. No mind tricks either."

"Fine," Angel said sticking her tongue out at her older brother. "Watch Max, this is how its done."

"Let's see it," I smiled at her as she bounded off towards the crowd.

I was amazed; I mean I was actually having fun. Freedom was amazing.

* * *

"I don't see them anywhere," Switch whined to Blitz. "Can't we at least get something to eat?"

"Sure, you can eat the barrel of Raze's rifle," Blitz growled. His good mood had all but disappeared rather quickly once they'd lost the Flock in the massive crowds of people. "Any sign Raze?"

"None yet," he replied via the radio earpiece.

This time Blitz had a plan. Max couldn't, wouldn't make a scene here and if she did, she'd pay for it. Unfortunately he had to locate her first. "Keep me posted then."

"Will do," Raze's voice affirmed before the line clicked off.

_Where are you Max? _Blitz wondered to himself as he scanned the crowd. He was searching mainly for her, but he knew if could find any member of the Flock, Max wouldn't be far off. They'd be protecting her like obedient puppy dogs, especially her Fang. _Not this time, buddy boy. _Blitz mused to himself contemplating what he could do to Fang while Max watched.

"Nothing yet, Blitz," Kyle muttered returning from his walkthrough. "Although, this little girl did tell me she loved me."

"Why would anyone, especially a little girl love you?" Switch asked in disbelief. "I doubt it."

"No really," Kyle insisted. "She came up, told me she loved me, hugged me, and ran off. She was cute, almost like a miniature Max, but her eyes were the wrong color."

"Well, maybe she can be your girlfriend," Switch muttered trying to suppress a chuckle.

"Wait, where did you see her?" Blitz demanded suddenly turning on his comrades.

"Why? You know here?"

"Where did you see her Kyle?" Blitz growled grabbing him by the shirt. He was in no mood for games.

"Up by Famous Footwear," Kyle surrendered throwing his hands up.

"Good," Blitz nodded spinning on his heel and stalking off in that direction.

"Are we supposed to follow him?" Kyle asked in confusion.

"We'd better," Switch muttered radioing Raze to let him know about their leader's crazed antics.

* * *

"Okay," Ella breathed in relief having successfully completing her dare of having Ig propose to her in a crowded store. It might not sound that bad, but Ella hates anything like that. She doesn't like attention brought to her and Iggy at all. I thought she might die, but as for me, no dare's yet. "Max's and Fang's turn."

Well, so much for that. I really should learn to stop jinxing myself. This was definitely going to be interesting if we had to do it together.

"Let's hear it," Fang said. "We can take it."

"Fine, I dare you to walk, holding hands, into Motherhood Maternity," Ella challenged. "Max, you have to ask the saleslady if they sell condoms and pregnancy tests, and Fang, you have to be trying to make out with her the entire time."

"What?" Fang said momentarily losing his cool.

"You heard me," Ella grinned exultantly.

_I jinxed myself bad this time, _I thought watching Fang. _At least it can't get any worse, right?_

"You up for it?" Fang asked his tone hesitant.

"Sure, why not?" I decided finally. I mean, could I honestly let Angel show me up? I think not.

"Let's go then."

I glanced back at Ella and Nudge, who looked nearly ready to burst, and Iggy, who was giving Fang the thumbs up sign. Oh someone was going to pay for this. But if I had to do this, I was going to do it in style. I took Fang's hand, tightly squeezing his fingers, and plunged headfirst into the store.

"Um excuse me," I asked the first employee I saw cheerfully.

"Yes dear?" she said looking about my mom's age. "Are you looking for another store?"

"No," I started to explain when Fang took up his half of the dare. He was burying his face in my neck and making some kind of purring sound. My knees turned to jelly and I tried in vain to focus on the lady.

"What can I…er…help you with then?" she asked politely trying not to stare at Fang in horror.

"Do you guys sell pregnancy tests and condoms here? Or do you know where we can find some?" I asked keeping a straight face rather easily.

"I'm not sure," the clerk said fumbling for words.

Fang was still to busy attacking my neck like some kind of vampire, but I had to fight to not burst into laughter at the lady's face. Priceless, absolutely priceless.

"Mmmm," he mumbled more of a growl that any form of a word.

His lips on my skin threatening to send me crashing to my knees. It was best to try to get out of here quickly. "That's okay, we'll look somewhere else," I said quickly.

"Or just skip the somewhere else and go back to bed," Fang spoke up in a husky tone. _Oh Lord, what was he trying to do? Kill me?_

"Well, I can check," the lady said her face horrified. Apparently she'd rather find us some protection rather then send us off without. This was amusing and disturbing at the same time.

"We'll be fine," I said adamantly turning and leading Fang to the door. If I paused and he kept doing what he was doing, my brain was going to shut down like a virus infected computer.

The lady looked about ready to faint as we left her standing awkwardly in the store. As soon as we rejoined the rest of the Flock, my heart was doing backflips. Finally, Fang, who seemed oblivious to my mental turmoil, stopped what he was doing, though he didn't drop my hand.

"Beat that," he smirked at Iggy.

"Wow, I really didn't think you'd do it," Nudge said in complete shock. "That lady was going to die! You was about to have a nervous breakdown in the middle of the store. I bet she tells all her buddies about the couple that came in the store today!"

"Wow," Ella said simply giving me a high five. "You're still the master."

"You know it," I grinned back.

"So it's either Max or Fang's turn now," Gasman said currently in awe of both of us.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Fang asked.

"Sure," I nodded stretching out my hand.

I quickly dominated at the simple game and turned towards the Flock. Who would crumble under pressure now?

"This'll be interesting," Ig said confidently. "The girls never have very good dares."

"Okay, Fang and Iggy, you're up," I said quickly. "We'll see about that now won't we?"

"Fang just went though?" Angel pointed out.

"I know, but I just want to build his character," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I bet," Fang said warily.

"Have something in mind?" Ella asked mischievously.

Oh I had something in mind alright. This next dare was going to make both Iggy and Fang give in and buy us lunch. I pulled everyone, but the two boys out of earshot and explained my plan.

"Oh that's just evil," Ella whispered. "I doubt they'll do it."

"So what do we have to do?" Fang said his ego still boosted from our dare.

"I don't know if you can handle it," I said flashing him a smirk.

"Oh I think I can," he replied leaning in so that our faces were inches apart. "Try me."

"I…I intend to," I stuttered slightly trying to keep my head. _Keep it together, Max, _I told myself calmly.

"What is it?" Ig asked impatiently.

"If you insist," I nodded using the excuse to turn away from Fang's brain melting gaze. "I dare you and Fang to go into that JC Penny acting gay."

"That's it?" Iggy snorted folding his arms across his chest. "Piece of cake."

"There's more to it," I smirked. "Not only that, you have to go dress up in lingerie, women's lingerie. No exceptions."

"What?" Fang choked, his confidence faltering.

"You heard me."

"While you're at it, make it the most scandalous lingerie you can find," Nudge added with a giggle.

Fang turned to Iggy, his face unreadable, though I could imagine what was going through his mind.

"After you," Ig muttered his bravado nowhere to be found now.

"I don't think so," Fang replied pushing Iggy forward.

"You can always give up," Angel suggested. "I'm sure Max would love to hear your surrender."

"Then she'll just have to get used to disappointment," Ig shot back though he didn't sound convinced.

Fang and Iggy walked stiffly towards the store, their movements hesitant. Not that I blamed them. As they walked towards the back of the store, even Nudge was silent wondering if they might actually do it. I thought they might, at least until we were in range of the intimates department.

Fang slowly picked up a hideous red lacy creation like it was toxic waste. With a grimace, he handed it to Ig and picked up another.

"Fine, I surrender," both of them said finally throwing the lingerie away from them.

"And?" Gazzy asked making chicken noises

"We'll buy lunch," Fang said grudgingly. "Happy?"

"Maybe," Ella laughed.

"What do you guys want?" Ig asked relief flooding his face.

I couldn't help but smile as the Flock launched into long winded descriptions of what they wanted.

"So we're down to you," Fang asked turning to me. "What do you want?"

"Whatever you're having," I smiled at him.

Fang nodded, "You guys coming with us?"

"Oh my… Look Ella," Nudge gasped pointing towards something in Aeropostale. "Let's go look!"

"Come with us Max!" Angel said tugging on my arm.

"I guess that's solved," Ig said rolling his eyes. "Girls and clothes…"

"You just can't appreciate them," Ella said elbowing him. "Now while we look, you boys go fetch. Got it?"

"Yes my master," Gazzy said in a Darth Vader voice.

"You going to be okay?" Fang asked taking my hand before I could follow Angel. "I promised not to leave you."

"I'll be okay," I said calmly, though my insides were screaming otherwise. "I promise not to get into trouble, pinky swear."

"Don't attack any salespeople okay?" Fang joked, but his eyes were watching me intently. "They're waiting for you."

"Duty calls," I smiled glancing over my shoulder.

"Hey Max?" Fang called pausing in indesicion. For a split second, anxiety was painted across his face like a dark omen, but it was quickly hidden by a mask of calm. He finished his sentence with a short laugh, obviously not saying what he had been going to. "Cheese right?"

I nodded feeling slightly disappointed. He quickly turned and faded into the crowd, looking back only once.

"I love you," I whispered as Angel ran up and took my hand.

"He knows," she said softly smiling up at me. I wondered if she could sense the ominous sense of doom that seemed to permeate the air.

"Come on guys," Nudge called from the store. "You can stare at Fang's butt later."

"Max!" Ella called sounding near panicked. "I need your opinion. Does this look better on me in green or blue?"

"Um…green?" I volunteered thinking both colors were fine.

"Green huh?" Ella mumbled moving on to look at something else.

As Nudge and Ella flashed different things my way, I was starting to remember why I didn't shop with them. This was definitely not my thing.

"Max, come here," Angel said grabbing my hand and pulling me around a corner and down to her level. "Put this on."

She pulled a yellow with various shades of blue knit beanie, you know the kind with the strings that hang down the sides, onto my head, and pulled a pink and green one over her own blonde curls.

"Now we match," she laughed throwing her arms around my neck.

"I like it," I grinned taking hers and marching up to the register. I'd momentarily forgotten the money Mom had supplied me with earlier. This seemed like a good use to me.

"There," I said with a smile. "Now we can match permanently."

Angel beamed at me looking about ready to start worshiping the ground I stood on. Instead of anything that dramatic, she threw her arms around me in a huge hug.

"Now we should probably go see what the shopaholics are up to," I said taking her hand.

"Sure but… Crap!" she said suddenly. "I forgot to tell Fang I didn't want tomatoes."

"I thought you liked tomatoes."

"I did, but now they're kinda gross," Angel shrugged smiling up at me innocently.

"Well, you find Ella and Nudge and I'll go track down Fang," I offered. I really didn't care for another showcase of which shirt looks better anyway. It was better to be a messenger then watching another mind numbing display of clothing.

"Okay!" Angel said saluting me with a smile.

I grinned to myself as she headed off to find the other girls, the tassels on her beanie bouncing against her shoulders. I watched her until she disappeared into the store before heading towards the food court. It was much harder to keep calm without someone to distract me. Breath quickening; I sped up my pace towards the food court. I just had to find Fang.

"They don't appreciate what you really are," a familiar voice said as a rough arm yanked me into a small walkway leading to some vending machines and a bathroom. "You're practically a god, albeit a more merciful one than me, but they don't see it. You're letting them live, though I'm not sure why. Hi Max, miss me?"

"Blitz," I choked out my mouth going dry.

"You don't sound excited to see me," Blitz smirked pushing me up against the wall. To the nearest person, we were simply a couple talking, not two assassins who wanted to kill the other. "What's the matter?"

I didn't respond. My eyes flickered towards the crowds of people and I wondered if I could make a run for it.

"Don't try it, Max," Blitz warned menacingly. "I mean, if you'd like to see what happens, I won't stop you."

"What?"

"Well go on then. If you hurry, you might get close enough to see Fang's brain splatter all over the blind one. Trust me, you won't have to the time to scream in warning to him," Blitz said in amusement.

"You wouldn't," I said numbly.

"Try me; you know what I'm capable of."

"Don't hurt him, don't hurt any of them."

"Begging?" Blitz snorted hitting the wall next to my head. "That's a new one, I don't like it."

"And I don't like you, but we can't all have our way can we?" I shot back in annoyance.

"Now that's more like it," he smirked reaching up and pulling the beanie of my head. "This is cute."

"Don't…" I started reaching my hand out.

"Or what? These people have made you soft Max," he said coldly. "This is why I'm going to help you fix that. Come one, we're leaving. Like I said, you even try to warn him and he'll be dead before you blink."

"You'll leave them alone if I cooperate?"

"Sure why not? I only need you."

I took a deep breath trying not to let my emotion get the best of m as Blitz roughly took my arm. How fitting that the rain was pouring down in sheets of water, just to make a bad day worse. _I'm sorry Fang, so sorry, _I thought as the rain drenched me. I had put the Flock's lives in danger. I had brought death to their front door once again. Now I needed to take it away. I didn't have a choice, despite the consequences for me.

The moment we stepped outside, Blitz nodded to Kyle and Switch who were standing at attention by the door and pulled me down the stairs. I swallowed painfully trying to see the standard military issue rifles at their sides. A black SUV, trademark of the Compound, screeched up the curb, and idled impatiently for us.

Blitz, however, didn't push me into the waiting vehicle. He turned back towards the building waiting intently. Suddenly, I saw Fang come running outside, horror on his face. In one simultaneous motion, Switch and Kyle swung the rifles into Fang, one in the stomach and the other in the chest.

"No!" the scream tore out of me before I could contain it as I watched Fang crumple to his knees in a puddle of water.

"Right on time, just as you predicted Max," Blitz smirked. "He's quite the loyal dog isn't he?"

"You can't take her back there," Fang growled despite his ragged breathing.

"No one asked you," Switch muttered hitting Fang across the jaw with his rifle.

"Let him talk," Blitz said holding up his hand.

"You deserve to be there," Fang said evenly though blood and rain were soaking his shirt. "She doesn't."

"And what did Max tell you about this place?" Blitz asked calmly. "Did she show you her scars?"

"Shut up," Fang muttered trying to stand even as Switch and Kyle held him back.

"Besides, I'm not taking her back, she's going voluntarily," Blitz said pausing briefly. "You could call her time with you a little reconnaissance mission."

I watched the anger in Fang's eyes flare up and I ached as his gaze found mine, the anger burning hot there. I wanted to explain everything. I wanted to hold him like I had two years ago, kiss him, and tell him it was going to be alright. Yet, I knew nothing was okay and that part of me was throbbing deeply.

"This was all planned, from the very beginning," Blitz lied rubbing salt into open wounds. "She lied to you, and you believed every word of it. Did she tell you that she loved you? To bad she turned around and stabbed you in the back. My Max has gotten good at that."

"Fang I," I started wanting to erase the pained look in his eyes.

As soon as the words escaped my throat, Kyle hit Fang, hard across his wings and shoulders. I winced just watching, but Fang didn't seem at all phased, his eyes were locked on me.

"Leave him out of it Blitz," I whispered, the fight draining out of my voice.

"You're the one who brought him into this in the first place," Blitz smirked.

"Max, tell me it's not true," Fang pleaded despite the blows Switch was delivering to his back. "Don't do this."

"I can't," I breathed sure he couldn't hear me. I wanted to tell him that and more, but how could I knowing that Fang's life would be the cost of my words? "I hate you Blitz."

"Now don't say that," Blitz muttered raising his hand and I watched in horror as Kyle aimed a handgun, he'd been keeping holstered at his hip, at the back of Fang's head. "I might do something drastic unless…"

"Unless what?" I asked quickly glancing at Fang. He seemed unperturbed about the gun jabbing into the back of his head.

"Tell me you love me," Blitz ordered quietly. I knew Fang couldn't hear him on purpose.

"I love you," I muttered under my breath.

"So he can hear you," Blitz replied almost inaudibly. "And let's pretend you mean it."

"I love you," I told Blitz trying to sound convincing.

"Now kiss me."

I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek feeling sick as I did. Blitz only rolled his eyes at me.

"Don't make me ask you twice."

His arm went around me, while his other hand pushed my wet hair out of my face, trying to make it seem like a loving gesture. The arm Fang couldn't see, pushed me into him, making Fang believed I did it of my own free will, and crushed me against Blitz. His lips crushed against mine and I tried not to imagine the look on Fang's face. He held me there like that in the rain for what seemed like forever.

"Better, now get in the car love," Blitz ordered finally, though he was still using a sickly sweet tone. The tone, however, held an underlying warning and I knew better than to risk Fang's life anymore than I already had.

As Blitz turned away, I took a chance and glanced at Fang. I prayed he could see the apology in my eyes, but I couldn't see anything but doubt and regret in his. I held his eyes for a moment more and watched them light up with a new fire and I understood. _I will come for you Max, _I could almost hear him whispering in my ear. _I told you I don't care what you've done. I'll come._

"It's too bad we didn't meet differently," Blitz said to Fang as he shoved me in the SUV. "We could've been friends."

"Doubtful," Fang muttered.

"Right," Blitz nodded sliding in next to me. "Switch, Kyle, you know what to do."

"Yes sir," they nodded in unison.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him," I said angrily.

"Oh don't look at me like that Max," Blitz said as the SUV pulled away blocking what might have been my last view of Fang. "I love you, you know that, and I only do things for your own good."

I didn't respond. I only knew that if Fang died, I would personally destroy them all. They had made me a killer and I would show them exactly what that meant. I would make sure everyone of them was dead.

_I won't forget, _I thought to myself. _Not this time._

* * *

**A/N: Wow that was kinda long… Anyway how was it? My friends and I invented the Dare Game and I figured it was time to resurrect it. My best friend and I actually made my cousin do the lingerie dare and to our surprise he did it. It was…well…interesting to say the least. It's pretty funny and a good way to decide who buys lunch, just don't get kicked out of any stores because that's bad. Anyway, I hope you liked Blitz showing up and flaunting his guns, in both ways. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can get my wrists to work! Please review! **

**~lightNdarkangel **


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Yay! I typed this as soon as I could because I love all the reviews! Whew, and now Fangxxmylove, no kidnapping my beloved wiener dog, she's just too cute! Besides she's named Remy after Remy Martin, which is an alcoholic beverage, how awesome is that? But I digress, hahaha! I wanted to get this up pretty quick because I was inspired by you guys. Anyway, now we find Fang kicking some ass and enjoying it. I realize this isn't very long, but to be honest, I'm just trying to get to the next couple chapters. Still, I hope you like this little interlude!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still not in Jamaica with the Flock. *sigh* In fact, it's freaking snowing and JP still owns everything down to Gazzy's dirty socks…**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 16: Gone**

_Max is gone... _I thought, unable to breathe. _She's gone and you did nothing but watch._

"No!" I yelled as the SUV turned onto the highway, pulling Max right back out of my life.

"Don't worry," one of Blitz's underlings cooed softly to me. "Blitz'll take good care of her. I wouldn't lie to you would I?"

An inhuman growl erupted from my chest and dark intent flooded my mind. Someone was going to pay from losing Max. The painful blaming of myself could wait for later, at the moment, I was going to rip these guys apart.

"Careful Kyle," the second subordinate said with a chuckle. "We wouldn't want to get him angry with us."

"I'm not that worried about it Switch," Kyle said wiping wet hair out of his eyes. "Blitz built him up to be tough and yet, he didn't fight that hard for Max. It's pathetic how-"

Kyle was immediately interrupted as my right hook slammed into his jaw. I was going to kill him, I was sure of that. Another low growl escaped as I smashed his into the wall and began systematically destroying his face. I cocked my fist back for another blow, when finally, Switch pulled me off. I jerked my elbow back hitting Switch across the bridge of his nose smirking darkly as it shattered. Now, this I was used to. I'd been doing this against Erasers for so long that even now it was muscle memory to fight outnumbered. I quickly kneed Switch in the gut doubling him over before turning back to Kyle. His face was a bloody mess and I had to smile at the destruction I'd caused.

Blindly he swung his arm at me and I easily blocked it. The reverberating snapping sound almost guaranteed that I'd dislocated his shoulder. Whimpering, he backed up. I stepped forward to knock Kyle out of the game as Switch managed to rise to his feet. _Click. _The sound was unmistakable. Switch had finally wised up and drawn his weapon, which was now leveled at the back of my head.

"Don't you move," he wheezed, one arm against his gut.

"Go to hell," I said turning to face him.

"I live there," Switch retorted glancing over at Kyle. "You okay man?"

"I will be."

"So go on," I muttered feeling my bruises start to ache, none so badly as my chest. "Pull the trigger."

"You'd like that wouldn't you?"

"Let's find out." _Max would kill me for this if she ever found out._

"Tempting, but I have orders not to kill you."

"Why?"

"Who knows?" Kyle said softly his breathing ragged. "Blitz probably wants to kill you himself."

"If he can," I said staring Switch down. The fact that he couldn't hold my eyes hadn't escaped my attention. "If he touches Max, I'll tear him apart."

"We'll see about that."

"Sure we will," I growled waiting for Switch to look away.

As soon as his eyes dropped, I jerked forward and reached for the gun. I managed to knock it away before Switch could fire, but he managed to swing it around again. The cold steel connected with my temple leaving a dull ringing in my ears. The world seemed to go fuzzy as I dropped onto my hands and knees. All sense of balance was lost as blood ran from my head into a puddle of rainwater clouding it crimson. I winced as Kyle shoved me flat onto the ground. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move.

"We'd better get back," Switch said though his voice seemed far away and oddly metallic. The ringing sound was making it hard to hear anything. "I doubt he'll manage to follow us now."

I listened to the drumming of footsteps becoming faint on the concrete. Another car engine started up, distantly at first, quickly becoming a little louder irritating the throbbing in my skull.

_Max needs you. Get up, _my mind screamed at me. I want to, but I can't. The rest of my body is going into shut down mode and my limbs aren't responding to anything. Finally, as if to rub salt into an open wound, my mind conjures up one fading image of Max from the night in the cave.

_"Promise me that I won't wake up tomorrow at the Compound."_

_"I swear."_

Now I'd failed her, failed myself, failed the Flock. Maybe there was no point in getting up.

* * *

"Hey man, are you cool?" I heard a voice ask as a foot nudged my sore side.

Slowly, I blinked open my eyes and maneuvered to my hands and knees. It was hard not to just collapse back into the puddle. I looked around as the group of people surrounding me as I coughed up puddle water and blood. Everything seemed to throb violently, but Max…Max! I had to find her.

"You there?" the same voice asked as I turned to face them. It was a high school kid watching me intently. "What happened?"

Gingerly, I touched my forehead, pulling it back slowly to see the sticky blood coating my fingertips. Deciding against answering any questions, I shakily rose to my feet, nearly crashing back to the pavement.

"I don't think you should get up," a girl standing next to my would be savior said softly. "I can call an ambulance."

"I'm fine," I choked out feeling anything but. "No ambulance."

"Do you need us to call anyone then?" a second girl asked.

"He needs an ambulance," the first girls said loudly.

I quickly took the opportunity to sneak away from the arguing crowd. I didn't need to go to any hospital. I needed to get to Max. I burst through the mall doors, knowing I looked horrible, but not caring.

"Fang!" Gazzy yelled rushing up to me and going silent as he noticed the state I was in.

"Where have you been?" Iggy said, unable to see my face. "You took off and didn't come back so we went looking for the girls."

"Did you find them?" I choked out painfully.

"Yeah, they're on their way," Gazzy answered softly. "Fang, where's Max?"

I glanced at him, but couldn't answer. My throat tightened and wouldn't let any words escape.

"Fang, what's going on?" Nudge asked her voice panicked as the girls raced up to us.

"What happened to you? Where's Max?" Ella demanded when I said nothing.

"Not here," I mumbled glancing around at the people watching us. We were making a scene and though I normally wouldn't have cared, I couldn't bring myself to tell the Flock that their fearless leader was gone again in front of the masses. I couldn't tell them it was my fault.

I spun on my heel and headed for the door out into the cold rain once again. Earlier I had welcomed the rain, but now without her, it was cold and I hated it. I walked hurriedly to a secluded area to get away from this place.

"Fang, will you wait a minute?" Iggy yelled behind me. He caught up and grabbed my shoulders tightly. "Stop for two seconds."

"I can't," I muttered shoving him off. I glanced over his shoulder to see the Flock raising to catch up. "I can't let them hurt her again Iggy."

"What do you mean?"

"They took her back Ig and damn it, I let them. I can't let the past repeat itself."

"It won't, because we're going to help you."

I shrugged my shoulders in pain. I was couldn't argue, couldn't fight him. I knew I needed their help, but right now I was in no mood to admit it. Iggy waited for a moment before turning to the Flock and grabbing Ella tightly. I should my head to clear it, flipped out my wings, and faced the Flock.

"U & A guys," I said repeating Max's command.

* * *

"You guys are home early," Dr. Martinez said as we burst inside. "How was the mall?"

She stepped out of the kitchen, still holding a dish she'd been drying, a grin on her face. A smile that fell away as soon as she saw us, soaked with rain and for me, blood. I watched painfully as she mentally counted us and realized who was missing. My chest tightened as horror flooded her eyes.

"Max," she breathed as the plate slipped from her fingers. We all stood numbly watching the plate shatter against the floor.

I left someone else to explain as I stirred into action. I raced up the stair, my hands clenched into deadly fists. I headed straight for Iggy's room, knowing he keep all of his bombs hidden somewhere. I grabbed the box beneath his bed and smiled darkly. Light glinted off the bombs' metal parts and I wondered just what each of them could do.

"Here," Iggy said appearing next to me. Apparently he'd read my mind. "The smaller ones strap into this."

I nodded pulling the modified bandolier over my shoulder. I could only imagine what else Iggy had come up with to make maneuvering the bombs easier. Still I didn't complain and began strapping bombs into anywhere they would fit.

"Are we even going to use half of these?" Iggy asked.

"Probably not," I answered truthfully. I wanted to kill Blitz with my bare hands.

Iggy merely nodded and kept picking out bombs. Once I had enough, I left Ig's room and marched downstairs, my feet thumping dully o the stairs. I felt like a soldier going into a battle he knows he won't win.

"Fang, do you have a plan?" Val asked from the kitchen table. She looked as miserable as I felt.

"No," I replied rather darkly. It wasn't a lie, because I didn't have a plan other than to find and kill Blitz. I hadn't thought of anything before or after that.

I turned heading for the back door, not caring who followed me. Time was precious and I couldn't waste it. I would rescue Max myself if I had to.

"Fang," Jeb's voice said taking on an authoritative tone. "Look at me."

I didn't turn. If I've learned anything from Max, it's how to ignore authority.

"Do you even know where the Compound is?" he asked his tone slightly softer now.

I bit my lip trying to contain the urge to hit him. "No, I don't."

"Then calm down for a minute so we can work out a plan and save Max without anyone else needing to die."

"Damn it Jeb," I growled finally losing my temper. "It's my fault Max is gone and I'm going to get her back, now. While you're making your plans, who knows what they're doing to her there. They're not going to let it go that she's been with us. I'm not going to let anything happen to her."

I turned around locking my gaze with Jeb's and glared at him. My anger was a clever disguise for the pain in my chest; one that I wasn't sure was going to last much longer.

"And do you really think that you rushing in and getting killed will help anyone?" Jeb replied softly. I hated him for it. "What will that do to Max? To the rest of this family?"

"Jeb, they have you daughter," I said evenly feeling the anger drain from my limbs. "I'm not willing to lose her. I'm not willing to let her become another Ari, are you?"

"Please Fang," another voice besides Jeb pleaded. "Let us help you."

I turned to face Angel and nearly broke down. I'd never really taken the time to see how much like Max she really was, but now the determination burning in her eyes was unmistakable. It was Max's determination. I took a deep breath glancing out into the rain once more. Max needed me and I needed her, but both of us needed our Flock, our family. Without them, what were we?

"Okay Angel," I relented letting her take my hand.

"It's okay or it will be," Nudge said as I stood next to her. Nudge, like Angel, was also so much like Max. If I was going to get through this, I needed them too. "We're going to save her."

I nodded slowly turning my attention to Jeb.

"Obviously since none of us know where the Compound is, we can't find Max," Jeb said somberly. "However, I have a plan to remedy that. When Max was shot, I noticed a small chip in her arm, the same place as the last one, emitting a radio frequency. Apparently, the Compound inserted another one just to keep tabs on Max. It was a rather old frequency, but I jammed their connection and hacked into it with my own."

I watched as Jeb placed my laptop on the table, opening a GPS program. "Whether the Compound realizes it or not, I can track Max back to them. We're going to get her back Fang."

"Good," I said numbly. "Now does anyone have any ideas how we break into a secure facility filled with trained assassins?"

No one spoke up immediately because no one had any plans. Max was our planner, our leader, and unfortunately, none of us were Max.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the shortness, but like I said, there's plenty of awesomeness to come. Sadly, yes Fang has reverted to the angry dude he was before Max came back, but I can't exactly blame him. He just wants to kick Blitz's ass and who can blame him? So I hope you liked it and remember to review! I like lots of happy reviews. I'll get right to work on the next chapter! **

**P.S. Mental cookies for everyone who reviews!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Yay! Two chapters in one day! I'm on a roll or something. But first off, sorry for any confusion. All of the assassins besides Max and Blitz are Erasers. I don't know if I forgot to mention that but there it is. Also, Switch and Kyle don't capture Fang because Blitz didn't want them to. He's planning on Fang coming after Max so he can fight him and look good in front of Hightower. I hope that makes sense if it didn't before. Now we find our heroine back at the Compound with Hightower trying to figure out exactly what she's been doing. *cue dramatic music* Will Fang rescue her in time? Or will Hightower destroy her for good? I guess you'll just have to read and find out. *cue evil laughter***

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own any of the Flock. JP still owns everything down to Fang's jeans…though I'd like to own the bod in those jeans, you betcha.**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 17: The Return**

"Max…open your eyes."

I slowly started to ease my eyes open wondering if Fang's voice was in my head. It was. Unfortunately it was merely a side effect of whatever drug they had forced down my raw throat. I glanced around and though my eyes were still blurry, I knew exactly where I was. This was the interrogation room, the very entryway to hell itself.

I'd been here before, but I was never the one chained to the chair or at least not to my current knowledge. Usually I'd been standing on the other side of the one way glass. Now, I'd been here for who knew how long. I jerked the chain that was wrapped tightly around my wrists, rubbing them raw as I tested the strength of the chain. Like every other time I'd tried, they didn't budge. Too bad, because I'd like to flip off whoever was watching through the glass.

"Hello Max," a snide voice said entering the dimly lit room. I recognized the voice but I couldn't place it. Again to my current memory, I had no idea who the man was.

Before I could respond, his fist smashed into my already bruised face nearly sending the chair, which wasn't bolded down I know realized, to the ground.

"Sorry, I got a little trigger happy," he said circling around behind me so I could only see him in the mirror. "Now I'm sure you know the routine, right?"

"No, refresh my memory," I replied just as snidely.

"What did you tell them Maximum?" he asked moving in front of me, his face inches from mine.

This is the first question in a line of questions they've all asked before. This time, this guy, I can tell is not going to be gentle about the way he got his answers. The others had barely touched me, as if they were afraid of me. This man meant business, this man was a last ditch effort to get the truth out of me.

"I didn't tell them anything because I don't know anything," I muttered, which was only partially true.

Hightower had only told Blitz and I vague information about his grand plan. He said we didn't need to worry about it because it would all come together soon. All I did know was that he would kill anyone who tried to stop him.

"Did you tell them where this building is?" the interrogator asked next, his fingers digging into my wrists.

"No," I answered. Part of me wished I had told them, but then Hightower would've had them shot out of the sky. This was better.

"You mean you told them nothing in the time you were there?"

"I only told them what they needed to hear."

"Liar," he muttered slapping me so hard my eyes watered and blurred my vision. "Well, in that case however, you won't find this question difficult."

I watched him pace slowly around the room in a tight circle. My throat was dry and my cheek stung as he turned to face me.

"Do you love that boy? Do you love Fang?"

My blood immediately ran cold. What did he know about Fang and me? My tongue tied itself into knots as I debated what to say.

"Answer the question Maximum."

With an impatient growl, his hand shot out, this time hitting me hard enough to send the chair crashing to the ground with a thud that echoed in the small room. My head hit the floor with a wet smack and my vision danced with black dots as blood trickled down my face.

"Do you love him or not?"

My mind seemed to race back to the time I had first kissed Fang, first realized that I loved him deep down.

_"Just live Fang. Live and be okay."_

_With no warning, I lean down and kiss him._

"No," I choked out finally trying to fight back the memory and the hot tears that wanted to race down my face. "I don't love him."

"That's enough," Hightower's voice ordered as the door swung open. "Help her up."

I closed my eyes, trying not to feel the betrayal I've done to myself. _What have I done? _I opened my eyes to see Hightower watching me intently as my abuser releases my hands.

"Leave now," Hightower ordered the interrogator angrily. As he turns to me his voice softens. "Max, I'm sorry. I had to be sure."

He pulled me against his normally pristine lab coat, letting my blood soak it crimson. I could've cared less. Finally, he pulled back holding me at arm's length, his gray eyes penetrating my own exhausted and hazy ones.

"Welcome back Maximum."

Oh, how easy it would've been to believe him.

* * *

"So how'd it go?" Blitz asked me as I limped out of the infirmary.

I ignored him and trudged down the hall trying to put as much distance as possible between me and him. After the whole day in the interrogation room, I'd spent almost the entire night and day in the infirmary. Hightower had eventually come in with some psychologist earlier to test my mental state and finally I'd been declared mentally stable. If only…

Now, my "assignments" had been postponed and I was now wearing a band around my ankle much like the ones people under house arrest wear. It was only to ensure I didn't leave the Compound and exacerbate my injuries according to Hightower.

"Come on Max," Blitz pleaded chasing me down the hall. "You can't still be mad at me."

To answer his question, I promptly marched into the training gym, slamming the door in his face. When he didn't follow, I sighed in momentary relief. I'd mostly resigned myself to the fact that if Fang hadn't come by now, he wasn't coming at all. He'd promised he would, however, which made me think the worst.

I took a deep breath to clear my head and marched over the weapons wall. I'd left everything with the Flock. My knife, my Itex jacket, my soul and there was nothing I could do to get any of it back. Not here anyway. I needed a way to distract myself.

I picked up the knife nearest to me testing it in my hands. It felt foreign and cold in my hand and yet, I knew exactly what I could do with it if I wanted to. It was tempting to cut Blitz's heart out like he'd done to mine. I wanted to make Blitz hurt like I did, but that would make me just like him and I didn't belong here anymore. I didn't belong anywhere without Fang. I quickly turned ad threw the knife into the nearest wall narrowly missing Blitz's head.

"Nice shot, but don't you think target practice is for amateurs?" he grinned pulling the knife out from where it had imbedded itself in the wall.

"What're you talking about, I missed," I muttered staring him down.

"You can't be mad at me forever," he said tossing me the knife.

"Why not?"

"Because I love you."

"That's unlikely."

"Hey, I'm protecting you. I did you a favor getting rid of that jerk," Blitz said adamantly. "Hightower would rip you and him apart if he knew. Now, he'll never have to know."

"I know," I breathed feeling my chest tighten.

"Let it go," Blitz shrugged. "I'm the one who's going to keep you safe now."

"Again that's unlikely."

"Come on then Max," Blitz taunted. "If you're so angry at me, let's have it out. I have to keep an eye on you anyway so why not have a little stress relief? Unless you've gotten rusty."

"I haven't gotten rusty." To prove my point I flipped the knife I was holding up and caught it deftly.

"I'll be the judge of that," Blitz smirked drawing his own knife and letting it catch the light ominously.

With a dangerous look in his eyes, Blitz flew at me aiming for my heart. I easily blocked his lunge and swung around behind him, my knife only just missing his throat as he jerked away, flipping out his wings and going into a backflip. Watching us fight was like watching an intricate dance. One error in your footing could be fatal, but it was sure as hell fun to watch.

Blitz dove at me again, his wings lending him an extra burst of momentum that nearly knocked me to the ground. I ducked beneath his knife and used his chest as a step as I pulled my wings out. This was about to get interesting. Blitz nodded following me up into the air. He flipped his knife to a back hand grip and came at me swinging his blade it a wide and slow arc that gave me plenty of opportunity to counterattack. I went for my shot as he chuckled spinning fast and hitting me with the full force of his back kick knocking the air out of me. Immediately, stars paraded about my vision and I tried to gulp in air.

"You actually fell for it?" he grinned. "Max, being with that Flock of yours has made you soft. Doesn't Fang know how to fight? I guess not or maybe he'd be here rescuing you."

As soon as Blitz mentioned my Flock, red clouded my vision. He should've known better. Now he was going to get hurt, badly. I tackle him mid-chuckle and used my speed to slam him into the wall. His knee connected with my gut enough to force me to loosen my grip on his wrists. A low growl escaped my lips as Blitz tried to slash at me with his knife. I kicked the knife out of his hand, ignoring the cut it made across my thigh as it tore through my jeans. I jerked my knife up to graze along Blitz's check though he managed to pull it from my hands. In annoyance, I grabbed his jacket and slammed him against the wall again.

"You know Max," he began, "love and hate aren't separated by much in the brain. I think you know that."

"Shut up," I said coldly.

"Fang isn't coming," Blitz said his tone filled with finality. "You know that."

"I said shut-" I started as Blitz kissed me. I quickly shoved him back.

"Kiss me and kill me Max," he smirked watching me closely.

"With pleasure," I whispered leaning forward and kissing Blitz.

Fang was dead anyway. Why not sell what was left of my soul to the devil? Hightower was obviously wrong; I wasn't mentally stable at all. I held Blitz like that until I couldn't breathe anymore. I pulled back slightly from his lips to whisper to him. "Ultimately, you're wrong Blitz." I quickly brought my knee up into Blitz's groin. "I hate you."

In one quick motion, I let go of him and let him slide down the wall into the floor. I followed, landing a few feet from him.

"That was low."

"Now I intend to kill you Blitzkrieg."

"Let's see it," he mumbled staggering to his feet.

Without our knives, this was about to become an all out brawl. Despite my various bruises, all in various shades of black and blue, Blitz's attacks didn't seem to faze me. Finally, he managed to land a solid hit. With a crack, at least one of my ribs shattered and I stumbled slightly coughing up blood onto the floor.

"Come on Max," Blitz yelled no longer playing with me. "I'm enjoying this, so come on."

He tackled me and we fought across the floor until I got the upper hand. I cocked my fist back, ready to destroy him like he'd destroyed me so many times, when a familiar throbbing raced through my brain. Suddenly it wasn't Blitz beneath me; it was someone I recognized from three days ago, from a picture. It was Ari. Only something was wrong with him, his eyes looked surprised.

"You really hurt me," he gasped. "I wouldn't hurt you. Not like this."

His eyes rolled up showing the whites, as he went limp. What had I done?

Then it was Blitz back beneath me, watching me darkly. "Can't you do it Max? Can't you kill me?" He rolled me over, and stole another kiss from my bloodied lips. "I knew it all along Max. We always hurt the ones we love."

"What's going on?" Hightower asked appearing in the doorway.

As soon as Blitz's attention was distracted, I pushed him up and off and stumbled to my feet. My head was throbbing violently and I felt like throwing up. "I need to…I need to go," I choked out to Hightower.

I wobbled past him heading for my room and sweet relief. One question nagged me above the sharp pain in my skull.

_What had I done?_

* * *

"Look Markus, you heard what Blitz said," Anne Walker said calmly to her angry boss. "You have all the evidence laid out in front of you. Something's wrong with her, something happened on the mission. Something we didn't plan for."

"Impossible," Hightower replied adamantly. "Max isn't defective, just confused. Besides, I planned for everything."

"And if the rest of them come looking for her?" Anne asked. "They won't let her go so easily."

"Let them come. I'll have Max kill them all," Hightower shot back in annoyance. "I'm going to give her up so easily either."

"She's not going to," Anne started to protest.

"She will," Hightower smirked pulling a miniscule chip from his coat pocked. "I didn't want to use this, but…the choice is no longer optional. Implant this, and tiny electric impulses will destroy any memories of her family forever. If they won't stay buried in her head, then I'll burn them out."

"What about our plans?"

"Don't worry; Max will be ready in time. Now go and get our prodigy. I won't lose her this time."

* * *

The smell of antiseptic was thick and cloying in the air, filling the small room. All I really wanted was to be safe in bed, trying to heal the stinging bruises. Unfortunately, I had never made it that far. After leaving an agitated Blitz and a confused Hightower, I had collapsed in the narrow hallway, my brain attempting to escape my skull. Hightower had found me and taken me to the infirmary and now to this little room. He had looked genuinely worried, but I couldn't bring myself to believe him.

Now I sat in a miniature OR tracing patterns in the sterile white, textured wall trying to ignore the cold steel of the gurney. The white patient attire I was wearing were too thin to block out the cold. I hated this waiting especially when my eyes kept straying to the tray of medical tools.

Plus the silence was giving me time to think of Fang, which wasn't good for my aching head and heart for that matter. The deep timbre of his voice seemed to echo in the silence, haunting me. Involuntarily, I shivered though not so much from the cold as from the perceived feeling of Fang's gentle, undemanding fingertips on my cheek and the soft brush of his lips against mine. Knowing that I would never feel that again was slowly killing me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Hightower said entering the room. "Meetings, honestly. How's your head?"

His tone was fatherly as he flashed a small light in my eyes. I knew better than that however.

"Better," I answered truthfully. _Can't say the same about the rest of me,_ I thought numbly.

"That's good to hear, but what if we make the headaches go away completely? You'd be completely pain free."

_No, I won't. Not until you let me go home, _I thought to myself. "Do it," I said blankly to Hightower. I could've cared less what he did. I'd done most of the damage to myself already.

"I see, Anne already spoke to you about this?" Hightower guessed as I nodded. "Well, it won't take long and it will eliminate the attacks."

I nodded again, though I wasn't buying into his concern. According to Anne, it was a small device, inserted into my neck, which would measure my brain waves and use counteracting waves to stop the brain attacks. The razor sharp gleam in Hightower's eyes made any trust impossible however. My grip instinctively tightened on the table as the blaring beep of his pager flooded the room. He glanced at it in annoyance before picking it up. He studied it and then glanced as me.

"I've got to take this, but the anesthesiologist will be in to help you momentarily and I'll be right back," he smiled putting his hand on my shoulder. It was all I could do not to jerk away. "Don't worry, after this, there will be no more pain."

His hand gave my shoulder a tight squeeze before he turned on his heel and left. I started to take a deep breath of relief, when two new guys walked into the room. They both smiled at me, fake grins not unlike Hightower's and I already didn't like them.

"Good morning Max," the taller of the two said lightly. "I'm Dr. Iverson."

I shrugged my shoulders at him trying to act nonchalant and not show the anxiety that flooded my system. Not bothering to say anything else, he slipped an IV beneath my skin and taped it tightly. His buddy quickly hung a bag of anesthetic, an extremely strong brand I noticed. The doctor had me lie face down on the table and the room quickly started to go fuzzy.

"So what is Hightower really doing?" the second guy asked assuming I was out. His voice was like static in my ears, but I could still hear him.

"Well, he wants to eliminate the headache, but," the doctor paused, his voice lowering, "he also wants to erase the memories of her past completely."

Though I struggled to hear the voices, I heard that particular bit quite clearly. Hightower must have realized the headaches were trigged by memories and now…now he was going to destroy them. Each member of the Flock flashed through my mind, and their faces alleviated the effects of the drug slightly. I couldn't let Hightower do this. I refused.

Fending off the false promises of relief that the drugs were offering, I slowly twitched my fingers to see if the doctor would notice. Neither of them did.

"Will you grab those sutures? Hightower wants specific ones when he comes back."

"Which ones exactly?"

I smiled to myself as they walked away from me to search through the medical supplies. I eased onto my back and then slowly sat up yanking the IV out of my vein. I groggily wormed off the gurney eyeing the two. I grabbed the nearest weapon I could find a razor sharp scalpel and stood shakily.

"Hey what the…" the doctor said turning around.

I quickly threw the scalpel into his windpipe and jammed my IV into his helper's neck. It didn't take long for him to slump to the floor. I whirled to face the door, trying to stay upright. I grabbed another scalpel and took it along with me into the small room next door.

I found my clothes and quickly pulled them on inhaling the clinging smell of Fang. I used the scalpel to pry the band off my ankle. If it went off, not only would it set off alarms but the painful shock it would deliver my system would be too much to handle. I also noticed one of Hightower's folders labeled operation evolution. I grabbed it, stuffing it into my jacket for good measure.

I plowed through the door and raced down the hall trying desperately to stay on my feet. Anne came around the corner reading a clipboard and I crashed into her.

"Max? I thought you were…" she started eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yeah, there's been a change in plans," I told her as my vision doubled. I had to get outside, and fast.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking into my dilated pupils. I had to get rid of her before she realized anything.

"Ask the guys who tried to kill me," I lied desperately hoping she'd believe it.

Anne's eyes widened in surprise and she took off around me to find Hightower, assuming I would stay where I was. I didn't. I smirked to myself continuing my path to the exit. I could almost taste freedom.

I burst outside into the blinding sunlight and tried to get my eyes to focus. _Don't let Blitz find me, _I prayed silently extending my wings. _Which way to fly? Could I fly? _An alarm suddenly pierced the otherwise still air and I broke into a running start in the direction I hoped was west. I couldn't stay here and ponder any longer, my wings just had to work.

_I'm coming home, _I though trying to focus on keeping myself steady. _I'm coming home._

* * *

**A/N: Dun, Dun, Dun! How was it? I hope you all liked it. I thought it was pretty good in the way of drama. I hope Max and Blitz's fight was up to par and dramatic enough. Next up, we're going to have something you've all been waiting for; a Blitz and Fang showdown! And soon, Hightower's true motives will be revealed so don't forget to let me know because it makes me write faster than usual. So please push Bob, our lovely review button, and tell me everything. I enjoy your constructive criticism quite a bit, it sure makes me better! **

**~lightNdarkangel **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Rescue mission time! The Flock to the rescue…finally. After much trial and tribulation, I found my wonderful USB drive with this on it. I nearly jumped for joy. Well, okay maybe I did, but that's beside the point. I wasn't looking forward to retyping this, hence the wait, but then I relocated my drive and realized I didn't have to. So to share my joy, of finding it and the fact that the sun has returned, I'm posting this ASAP. Anyways, Fang and the Flock are on the way to rescue Max. Plus Fang finds himself in a deadly battle with Blitz, who is determined to keep Max for himself no matter the consequence. So there's action and a little Faxness mixed in there. Don't forget to review afterwards! I love feedback.**

**Disclaimer: Still not JP, still not in Jamaica, and saddest of all, definitely still not the owner of Fang's jeans… That last part is Max's job. Lucky bugger.**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 18: Crashed**

The wind wove lightly through my dark hair as I streaked through the clouds at a breakneck pace. I had already lost Max once and there was no way I was going to let it happen again. If they had touched her or hurt her, I was personally going to tear them apart. All of them.

I wasn't even entirely sure where we were headed, but the tracer on Jeb's GPS was continually beeping, which was a good sign, I hoped. According to Jeb, it was tracing Max's signal and if we started going the wrong way it would stop beeping. It was vague, I know, but it was the only option we had to save Max.

"Hey Dark Avenger," Gazzy called up to me. "Little help here?"

I reluctantly came to a stop and turned to face him and the rest of the flock. I held out my hand impatiently to take some of his bombs.

"Thank the lord," Nudge said happily coming to a stop, though she was breathing hard.

My eyes flashed from the flock back to our flight path. I was tired too, but I couldn't let Max suffer there.

"Look Fang, I know you want to hurry, but if we rush," Iggy said calmly, glancing over at Angel and Gazzy, "we'll be too exhausted to save anyone, let alone Max."

I opened my mouth to argue and then closed it in frustration realizing he was right as usual.

"Trust me Fang," Angel smiled taking my hand. "I'd know if anything was wrong."

I bit my lip in disappointment. Not with the flock, but with myself. I shouldn't have let them take her in the first place. I couldn't shatter the cold logic in front of me, no matter how much I wanted to. Still, two days was long enough to be without Max, especially after the two year absence. We had our plan and now I had to save her.

"So what's your plan now, oh fearless leader?" Nudge, who had been mostly silent so far, asked.

"We need to find the place first," I said trying to fake confidence I didn't have. "Then we'll decide."

"In other words you don't know," Iggy said shaking his head. "Great…"

I chose to ignore him and I quickly scanned the Flock. For a self proclaimed rescue team, we weren't bad. Gazzy, Ig and I were armed with bombs, Nudge had a few and she could hack into the system if needed, and Angel had her Jedi mind tricks. We might actually pull this off, plan or no plan.

"Ready to move?" I asked them after a few more minutes. I tried to pull of my best leader Max impression as I went on. "We can go slower if…"

I was interrupted by Angel's surprised yelp as she looked back me. I spun in midair, not exactly easy mind you, expecting to see a squad of assassins or something to that effect. Instead, something slammed into my gut knocking the wind completely out of me. The beeping electronic noise was now going at an insanely fast pace.

Then, as if not being able to breath wasn't enough, a right hook caught my jaw…hard. I managed to catch the next kick and winced as another fist hit my shoulder.

"Max?" I heard Angel say softly.

"Let me go!" Max screamed angrily fighting to get away.

"Max, it's me," I coaxed watching the anger slowly fade as her fists stopped beating against my shoulders. I swallowed my shock and tried to sound as comforting as possible. Still it wasn't easy when the one person you're looking for falls into your lap without hardly any effort.

"Fang?" she asked in a scratchy voice.

I nodded wrapping my arms around her. Her fresh black eye didn't escape my notice, but it was her eyes that worried me more than anything. They seemed glazed and unable to focus on my face. She kept blinking rapidly as if the light irritated her eyes, almost as if she couldn't see.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled incoherently. "I don't know what I did…I can't…"

I took a deep breath as I cradled her shaking frame. "You're going to be okay now. We're here, all of us."

I felt her nod against my chest and silently wondered if she could feel my heart knocking against my ribcage. I smiled as Angel hugged both of us together and the rest of the flock joined in. Don't ask how that worked midair, it just did.

"So much for all the bombs," Gazzy sighed though I could tell he wasn't completely disappointed now that we had Max.

"We'll explode some later, but right now let's just go home," Iggy said calmly. "I'm hungry."

"Me too," Nudge agreed. "Maybe you can make us tacos or something Ig."

I nodded in agreement until eerie laughter made my blood run cold. Silence descended over the Flock and the lightheartedness quickly became anger. Max tensed against me tightening her grip on my shirt as I turned around slowly. It was another reason to worry. Max was never scared, but now she seemed determined to bury herself in my chest.

"Blitz…" I muttered as my eyes locked on the assassin.

He glared back at me, his stance as cocky as ever though he looked horrible. His normally styled hair was messy, falling across his forehead limply, and his Itex uniform was hanging off his shoulders messily. His dark eyes burned, looking almost feverish, with a rage that hadn't been there the last time I'd seen him and though most of it was directed at me, his glance didn't soften when he looked at Max. I noticed the fresh slice across his cheek plus dark bruises patterning his arms where his sleeves were rolled up. _Way to go Max, _I smirked in my head. No one else could've done that to Blitz without serious consequences. Then again, the abrasions on Max's skin and her black eye left a simple conclusion.

"Hey Fang," he retorted hotly. "You have something of mine."

"Not yet, but I'm going to take your life if that's what you mean," I shot back more than a little darkly.

Blitz tensed but he relaxed as he spoke again. "Actually, I meant her," he said looking at Max as my arms tightened protectively around her. "Max is mine."

"She doesn't belong to anyone, least of all scum like you," I growled determined to protect her this time.

"You do realize I'll kill you for her," he said watching me ease the semi conscious Max into Iggy's arms.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I replied venom filling my voice, "because I'll kill you to defend her. Or I'll send you back to the Compound and you can tell them that anyone else who comes looking for her won't come back in one piece."

"I'd like to see you try," Blitz replied his voice nothing more than a low, predatory growl.

"Take Max and the flock home. Let me handle this," I whispered to Iggy, who shook his head in refusal.

I didn't have time to argue before Blitz was on top of me and we were hurtling towards the ground. His knee slammed into my gut repetitively as he griped my shoulder tightly. Fighting him reminded me so much of Ari; I had to wonder if all Itex subordinates fought the same.

I brought me elbows down on his arms buckling them at the elbows. I dug my heel into his gut and brought my knee up into his chin. Using that momentum, I jumped free of his weakened grip and started to shoot upwards again.

His hand caught my ankle yanking me back to his level and swinging me around, headfirst into a huge oak tree. I hadn't realized how low we'd become; we barely hovered above the tree line now. _Okay, no more games._ I tasted blood in my mouth and gave a low growl as Blitz came toward me as we landed on a long, wide branch of the tree. He was strong for an Avian recombinant, more like an Eraser, and every punch seemed to knock me backwards. Then again, when Max had first come back, she'd been stronger too. What else had they done to them at this Compound?

Blitz feigned a kick at me and then slammed his fist into my face. I managed to catch his other hand as I ducked away from it and returned the favor of throwing him into the trunk of the tree. I pinned him to it, eagerly destroying his perfect face with every punch.

"This is what I think of your Compound," I growled as I rearranged his cheekbones. "This one is just because you're a jerk, and this one is for Max. If I ever see your filthy hands on her again, I will kill you."

"Then do it now," Blitz grinned haphazardly through the bloody war paint streaking his face. "Do it!" What was he, suicidal?

He pulled out a knife; much like the one Max had left at home, and drew it across my knuckles forcing me to back off. He slashed with the knife as his foot lashed out dropping me to the thick branch.

"Maybe Max would like your head as a trophy," he grinned as he drove the knife through my shoulder pinning me to the tree. Instantly, I felt searing pain, Max's pain that she'd described in the cave showing me her scars, as the knife bit through skin and muscle.

"She'll never love you," I grimaced as he brought his heel down onto my injured wing.

"Oh, I think she will," Blitz grinned, his expression nothing short of crazed. "Once we work out our differences, she'll learn to love me, like it or not. Maybe this will be a fun story to tell the kids someday."

"If you try anything, she'll show you why no one touches her...ever," I choked out as his foot ground into my wing.

With a short, humorless laugh, Blitz leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Once you're gone, nothing will stop me. If she fights, I'll take what I want."

I couldn't stand it anymore. He could beat me as much as he wanted, but imagining him destroying Max with these same fists was too much. I grabbed his foot and twisted it off me with an animal growl. I leapt to my feet ripping the knife out of the tree branch, though it remained embedded in my shoulder. I was beyond feeling it anymore. I kicked his knee dropping him to the opposite knee before kicking him hard across his face.

"No one even thinks about using force against her without me killing them," I said my voice completely even, but tinged with sheer loathing. "Not even you do it again and I'll make sure you have nothing to think about because you'll be nothing more than a vegetable. Max isn't something to be owned you bastard."

I yanked the knife out of my shoulder and dropped it dangerously close to Blitz's face. I smirked down at him contemplating crippling him for life.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked watching me. "Do it and you'll be no better than Max and I."

"Max is out of your league," I replied icily, "and I've always been better than you."

Instead of killing him, although I wanted to, I kicked him several times in the groin watching him contort in pain.

"Don't come after her again, or I will kill you."

I turned away to return to the Flock when a clicking sound echoed in my ears. I glanced down and realized he'd pulled the pin on one of the bombs. If one exploded so would the rest. I swore under my breath as Blitz laughed a horrid, choking sound.

"If I can't have her, neither will you," he laughed spitting blood down into the forest below. "Guess we'll have to continue this fight in hell."

I quickly struggled to unclip the bombs from their bandolier across my chest not listening to Blitz. Finally I managed to tear it off and quickly threw it as far as I could. As I tore through the warm air up towards the flock, the resounding blast was deafening and left my ears ringing. However, the ringing wasn't enough to block out one familiar scream.

"Fang!"

It took a few minutes to regain my equilibrium and once I did, my first concern was for Max and the Flock. I flew up behind them, clutching my bleeding shoulder, momentarily unseen.

"Let me go," Max was repeating over and over as she struggled against Iggy's hold.

"You can't even see straight," Iggy said holding her like a child.

"I need to find him, I need him to be okay," she said fighting harder.

It might have been whatever drugs were pooling in her system, but seeing her in so much pain over me nearly tore my heart out. Suddenly, I didn't care if I was hurt or not. With an annoyed sound, she punched Iggy in the arm forcing him to relax his grip and immediately began to fall. The entire Flock dove into action, but I managed to make it first. I darted forward, catching her in my arms. I nearly dropped her as she pushed against my damaged shoulder.

"Max, it's okay," I said circling my arms around her with a wince. "I'm fine."

She looked up at me going stiff in my arms. I wasn't sure what the drugs were making her see, but at this point I really didn't care.

"Fang?" she whispered trying to focus on my face or anything else for that matter.

I nodded wincing at the pain in her face as she took in my shoulder, the gash above my left eye, and my various other scrapes. The look in her eyes was blame; she was trying to blame herself, as usual.

"You're hurt," she said somehow managing to be angry despite her slur. "I'll kill him."

"I'm fine, okay?" I said quickly. "I'm not dead yet, and Blitz isn't going to hurt you."

She didn't listen, in fact I don't think she even heard me, and despite the drugs running rampant through her blood, she pulled away from me. I heard her mumble something about what she was going to do to Blitz, none of it at all pleasant and I almost laughed. Here she was partially incoherent yet still wanting to kill Blitz for hurting me. That was my Max for you.

"Honestly I'm fine," I said catching her arm and spinning her back to face me.

To prove my point, I leaned down and kissed her firmly. Her dazed eyes widened in surprise. I didn't even notice as her fingers grazed my still profusely bleeding cut. All I was concerned with was making her see that I loved her.

"Oops," she muttered slipping down a few feet. "It's hard to remember what I'm doing when you're kissing me."

"Sorry," I grinned repentantly wiping the blood from my knuckles off her cheek. Ignoring the burning in my arms; I swept her up bridal style. "Don't worry about it then."

"You okay?" Angel asked her voice near panicked.

"Yeah," I replied giving her a smile as I hid my pain.

"Good, now I suggest we go home before the loser comes back and sends the cavalry to get us," Iggy muttered.

"Hmmm...zombie assassin," Gazzy chuckled. "Sounds like a cheap Hollywood knock off."

"And therefore right up your alley," Nudge said rolling her eyes.

"Basically," Gazzy shrugged.

"We should go now," Max muttered trying to escape my arms.

"Sure, except, you're not flying," I told her firmly.

She nodded not bothering to argue. This also worried me. Whenever I try to be chivalrous, Max argues with me. For her not to argue was not a good sign.

"She'll be okay," Angel whispered reassuringly. "She's safe with us now."

I nodded with a smile. Still, something didn't quite seem right. I didn't believe that they hadn't done anything to Max and until I was completely sure I was going to worry about her.

We made it back to Val's in record time and as we burst in the door relieved expressions met us. Val raced over to me looking from Max to my beat up state as if wondering who to help first.

"Help her," I said choosing for her. "I think they drugged her with something, but I'm not sure what it is. I have no idea what else they did."

I gave a weak smile as Ella rushed past me throwing her arms around Iggy. In succession she quickly hugged the rest of the Flock excluding me. I held up my hands, which along with the rest of me were bloodied. "You're all in one piece," she gushed turning to help her mom with Max.

"What happened?" Jeb asked waiting for one of us to explain.

"It's complicated," Gazzy said for me. "I didn't even get to use my bombs."

I sat down on the nearest unoccupied chair, completely worn out, watching Val take Max's pulse and tuning everyone else out.

"She's okay, Fang," Val said. "They drugged her with a heavy sedative and she's exhausted, but I think she'll be fine. Now, let's see your shoulder. It looks horrible."

"If it scars, Max and I will match," I grinned slightly as Val grabbed one of her first aid kit. She'd stocked up on them long before Max had left. They were more than necessary she'd explained, with all the bumps and bruises we turned up with. I hadn't been able argue that and neither had Max.

"How complicated?" Jeb continued to press me.

I glanced up at him, wincing as Val inspected my shoulder. "Very."

But of course nothing is ever easy for the Flock. I've learned this much so far.

* * *

**A/N: So how was the Blitz and Fang showdown? I hope it was exciting enough, it seems a little rushed to me, but I always critique my stuff more than anyone else. My friends agree I'm a perfectionist to the nth degree. But who knows, is Blitz really dead? If not, what will he do now? Plus, in the next chapter, Hightower's true, devious motives will reveal he's been using Max and Blitz all along, but to what end? So please push Bob, who compels you with the force to push him, and tell me everything you think. If there's anything I can improve let me know! Now I have to go to my Fanax addiction meeting. Review and I'll update as soon as I can!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Finally! I have updated! Surprisingly I actually have a good reason besides laziness this time. Apparently my computer has some sort of virus on it, which is a big pain in my butt because I can't open anything and I mean anything. No music, no internet, no documents, thus no story. I hope it's fixed soon lest I lose my mind. In the mean time, I'm using another computer since my blessed USB still works and is unaffected. Anyways, I got the chapter after this all finished and then I thought that I kinda needed this one to somewhat explain. So yes, it's kinda a filler chapter, but we get to see Blitz somewhat losing it, so there ya go. I also realize it's short, but that's only because the next one is forever long and was very tedious to type. In any case, bear with me, I'm getting there I promise! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Max, though I tried to own Fang a week ago. I was hunted down, beat up, and lost Fang; my "friend" laughed. However, I own Hightower and Blitz's mental instability. Now doesn't he just need some medication? Or a good hug?**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 19: Loyalties**

"Blitzkrieg?" Anne's voice radiated nothing less than pure shock as it filtered into the mangled assassin's throbbing head. "I thought you were…"

"I need to see Hightower," he cut in quickly though his voice was devoid of the usual annoyance he used when addressing Anne. His voice lacked any emotion, Anne noted watching him and it reminded him off the hollow quality of Max's voice, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Blitz could've cared less about the analytic gaze he was getting from Anne. He hurt everywhere. His body felt broken and as for his pride…well, he wasn't sure he even had that anymore. The pain that seemed to radiate from every pore of his body was just another way to mock him. He had failed to bring Max back, he had failed to tear her away from the Flock, and he had failed at loving her. So what good was he?

It was a question he was finding it hard to answer. It would've been much easier to lapse into his cocky, self-assured attitude, but one too many knocks to the head seemed to have beaten it out of him. He wasn't used to having no answers, and at this moment he had nothing. It wasn't a nice feeling. Now he was being either extremely stupid or smart by coming to Hightower, neither of which he was known for. Blitz was messed up, and nothing seemed to matter.

"Are you sure?" Anne asked her voice hesitant as though she could sense the edge of madness Blitz was teetering on.

"I need to see Hightower," Blitz repeated wiping at the blood that coated the lower half of his face.

As he limped after Anne, who had finally relented, all he could picture in his head was Max and Fang together. Their memory was all around him and it stung him, violently shattering his feeble hope. He had lost, but was he ready to give up?

"Yes?" the boss called icily from within the confines of his office.

"Go on then," Anne gestured in no mood to watch what would happen next. Hell, as if Blitz wanted to take part in what was coming, but he was here now and he had to face it.

"Sir," Blitz said monotone as the door slid shut behind him.

"Blitzkrieg, you're missing one," came the brittle reply. "Why?"

Blitz looked away from the boss' turned back as he spoke. "It was six against one," he lied unwilling to admit he had fought only Fang and lost.

"I don't care if it was hundreds against you, you were told to bring her home. Did I stutter?"

"No sir, but I need the team," Blitz answered quickly fearing Hightower's calm tone more than his angry yell.

"Unacceptable!" Hightower snapped spinning around, a pistol gripped tightly in his hand. His momentum pulled the gun diagonally across Blitz's temple with a dull whack.

Blitz's vision blurred and his ears rang violently as he dropped to his knees. The impact plus the explosion before was slowly tearing his body apart piece by piece. No one knew better than Blitz what Hightower had done to his own beloved assassin's. On multiple occasions, Blitz had helped him do it. This past experience made Blitz tense, waiting for the bullet he was sure was about to end him.

"You will get Max," Hightower spat out watching Blitz's blood pool on the floor in disgust. "She is the key to our little coup, you know that."

Oh, Blitz knew that better than anyone else, but he also knew that Hightower was dreaming big if he thought Max was going to help him willingly now.

"Sir, Max's different. Just leave her out of this," Blitz argued through the agonizing haze in his brain.

"Your incompetence is a stain on your entire squad and I will no longer allow it," Hightower continued aiming the handgun between Blitz's eyes.

Rocking back to his knees, Blitz's stared down the barrel of the 9mm handgun feeling completely devoid of feeling. It was more than a little depressing to know that he wasn't fighting back, but what was the point? Unlike Max, he had nowhere else to go, no one else to run to.

"I should kill you now, however," Hightower paused pulling the gun back. "I may have use for you yet…son." The last word spat out with such contempt and it dissolved whatever was still living in Blitz.

Yes, he was Hightower's son, but it wasn't something he ever wanted to admit to. God knew he'd had good reason to keep this little fact from the squad, from Max especially. Besides, Hightower wasn't going to win any awards for best father of the year, but by the same token, neither was Blitz going to get anything for most outstanding son. His entire purpose for breathing had been to be a support for Max to lean on, but she had never given him a second thought. He was just a bitter idiot who was incapable of doing anything, but he intended to kill Hightower, his dear father, one day, even if it killed him.

"Of course, you failed your original purpose, but I must settle for what I have worthless as you are," Hightower muttered. "Perhaps if you bring Max back to me, I'll forget your little failings. Without her, there is no point to this mission."

"I'll find her," Blitz muttered new disgust flooding his veins. His 'father' had just given him a new purpose, though his tone was sick rather than triumphant.

"Good," the director smiled pitilessly. "Sometimes I see myself shining through in you."

"I am nothing like you," Blitz breathed wanting nothing more than to kill Hightower on the spot.

"Oh but you are, I programmed coveting Max into your very genes," Hightower laughed. "Now, you will bring her back here and perhaps, in the near future, when our little rebellion is successful, you can have her. Perhaps, your children will be less of a disappointing disgrace."

Choking back the sickened feeling, Blitz slowly rose to his feet and turned to leave. It was almost more than he could take, listening to Hightower. It was more than enough justification for killing him. Blitz wanted to argue the point that he was nothing like Hightower, but he was. Oh how he was. He was just as sick and twisted as Hightower, maybe even more so.

"And Blitz, don't think for a moment that I wouldn't kill my own flesh and blood."

"Oh I know you would, I know you would," Blitz sighed softly as he left the office.

Filled with a new emotion to give him a purpose, Blitz turned down the opposing hall, with a new plan in mind. Hightower thought he had him bent to his will, but Blitz was beyond that. He was going to overthrow Hightower's entire plot right beneath his nose. Of course, this would require Max's help, which Blitz was determined to get. He'd been beaten by Fang before, so he was no longer worried about him. He was hollow, robotic almost in his goal. He was going to kill Hightower.

"Hey, Blitz," Kyle said appearing next to him. "Since when did you get back? What happened to your face?"

"Nothing that concerns you," Blitz retorted. "Where's the rest of the squad?"

"In here," Kyle answered opening the door to the weapons room.

Blitz took a deep breath once again at home with his crew and surrounded by various instruments of death. Slowly, the knot in his chest loosened slightly. Immediately, the squad looked up from whatever they were doing, and took in Blitz's haggard appearance. Expecting backlash, no one spoke up.

"Hey boss," Raze said finally with a simple nod of the head. "What's our next move?"

Blitz ignored the smattering of half-mumbled hellos and thoughtfully glanced around the squad. He knew what he wanted to do, but organizing it would be a bit more difficult.

"We're going to stage a coup," he said finally. His voice held no emotion and to him it was said with the same tone that he would use to announce that the weather was bad. It was this lack of inflection that sent a ripple through his mates.

"A coup," Switch repeated nodding slightly.

"I don't mean Hightower's coup either," Blitz clarified wanting no confusion on this. "I mean a coup against the top dog himself."

For a moment, Blitz expected shock and maybe even obvious disgust, but he found none. The looks he was getting instead were full of muted acceptance.

"How?" Kyle asked.

"The same way Hightower is going to. Max is the key to his revolution, and she will be the key to ours," he answered cryptically.

"So what do you want us to do?"

"Do? Nothing yet, nothing but go along with exactly what Hightower tells you. Playact that you are his puppets," Blitz instructed them. "I will go get Max, and until I get back, you will only take serious orders from me. You will not act on his plot until I get back."

"Sure boss, but what if Max doesn't come back?"

"Oh, I think she will, once she realizes just what Hightower is up to," Blitz murmured more to himself than anyone. "She won't have a choice."

**A/N: Well, how'd it go? So I'm thinking Blitz is gonna get a pretty little scar thanks to daddy. Just on the off chance that anyone was hoping for some damage. In any case, yay for overthrowing your delusional boss! Blitz is doing something good, but I don't think it has occurred to him yet. Better not tell him or he won't want to do it anymore, it'd ruin his bad boy persona. Anyway, I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can, hopefully my computer will be fixed soon or I'll have to use another one again. Stupid, pointless virus. Anyway, it won't be too long of a wait, so in the meantime, review, review, review!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Um…yeah, so I realize I haven't updated it a while and I am very sorry. But my computer had that virus on it and now I have horrible writer's block…my arch nemesis. I can't seem to shake it no matter what I do. So yes, I'm still working on this, and I am determined to finish! I just need some ideas to help spark my writer's fire. And I don't have any…so anything you can come up with is really helpful and loved! Anyway, this chapter is really freaking long… It's kinda scary. But Max has a plan so it's okay, and we get to see how Hightower and his minions erased her memories…bet she's pissed about that. So review and tell me how it goes!**

**Disclaimer: Still I own nothing, despite my attempts otherwise.**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 20: Revelations**

I finally managed to regain consciousness to the sound of alarmed voices, panicked voices actually. I didn't bother opening my eyes. There was no sense in making the throbbing pain between my eyes any worse. Besides the last thing I remembered was Fang so if he was around and in charge then I wasn't going to freak out. Yet...

"I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet that Dr. what's his Face won't let Max go that easily," Fang sighed as I braved opening my eyes.

"No, he won't," I said groggily in reply. "He'll look here first. It's not safe, we need to..."

"Max," Fang said rising from his seat at the table to sit next to me on the couch. "Hey, take it easy."

"He's right, they drugged you with Ketamine," Jeb added from the kitchen table. He looked anxious, but I could see the instant relief flood his eyes as he looked me over. I saw the look that passed between him and Fang, but Jeb went on anyway. "I don't think they did anything else to you, but I can't be sure."

"Well, that explains a lot, but there's no time to take it easy," I replied slowly lying through my teeth. "I'm fine, I swear. Where's the Flock and what happened?"

"They were starving, Iggy's making tacos in the kitchen and they're helping," Fang explained quickly. It didn't escape my notice, however, that he hadn't touched the subject of what had happened to him or me for that matter.

"That must be what I can smell," I winced feeling sick all over again. Sad, because I normally liked Mexican food.

"Why is he so determined that it has to be you he has?" Jeb interjected before Fang could tell me to take it easy again.

"I'm not sure," I answered fighting off the urge to puke all over Mom's carpet. "This might help; I stole it from Hightower, when..." I cut off, unwilling to bring that up now. "Well, I stole it from him. Not exactly the best behavior but I think it'll help."

I slowly pulled the file from my jacket, eyeing its tattered condition before handing it over. I really hoped it was legible by now. It had only been wedged into my jacket, forced to endure flight, and then squished between Fang and I when he'd carried me.

"Hmmm, Operation Revolution," Jeb muttered glancing at the cover before opening. "What do you know about it?"

"Nothing useful only that it has a catchy title. Hightower was big into dramatic names for things," I shrugged. "Anyway Hightower seemed to think it was important. Apparently I play a big part in it, but that's about where my knowledge ends."

"My God… Operation Revolution is his plan to assassinate...the entire United Nations council using you," Jeb muttered reading through the file and then handing it to mom. "Then he's going to replace them with his own pawns, pawns that are exact clones of the originals."

"Once he does that, there's nothing stopping him," I said as Fang took my hand.

"Control through some of the most important decision making people in the world," Mom said setting the file on the table. "What a sick man."

"He wanted me to…to kill you and the others first," I started to say looking down at the floor, "because you were opposing the extra funding he needed to clone the council members."

"It looks like you'll end up saving the world after all," Fang mumbled squeezing my hand.

"Joy," I replied softly unwilling to meet anyone's gaze. "You'd think I'd get a vacation or something. No rest for the wicked I guess."

"I really wish you'd stop saying things like that," he said before Jeb could start a speech about world saving.

"Yeah, and I really wish you would've let me kill Blitz," I said my fingers grazing the stitches in his shoulder through the gash in his bloodied shirt. I remembered that much now and I still wanted to kill the asshole. "None of us get what we want."

"It doesn't even hurt," he replied kissing my fingertips as I brushed my fingers across the stitched cut above his eye. "At least we'll match anyway." He grinned glancing at the spot my scars were exactly.

"It's not a good thing and you're a liar," I retorted rolling my eyes. "What is it with men and claiming you're not hurt? You're not super-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Fang's lips were on mine silencing any train of thought. Poof, any thought of argument gone. It was effective in shutting me up and Fang knew it. Part of me wished I could find a way to counteract it and yet I didn't feel that compelled to do so.

"Well, you know what I want?" Iggy said loudly. "For Max and Fang to stop trying to make babies in front of us all."

"Making babies?" Gazzy asked quizzically, his voice hinging on horror.

"You can't even see them," Nudge said superiorly. "Besides that's not how you make babies. Making babies is-"

"Okay, let's not scar-" Mom tried to interrupt. She should've known better.

"I can't see them, but I can hear them and that's enough," Iggy replied. "It's like a zombie movie, with Fang trying to eat Max's face off. Rawr!"

I about choked as Iggy smugly headed into the kitchen. Jeb looked mortified as he shook his head not bothering to say anything. Poor Gasman looked extremely confused as he stood there with his half eaten taco and hot sauce covering his mouth.

"I still don't get it," he said mostly to himself. I had a feeling he would immediately look it up on Fang's laptop when he got the opportunity and probably be scarred for life. Ah life with the Flock, almost back to normal. Or at least as normal as I could remember.

"I'll tell you later," Mom reassured him looking to Jeb for backup.

"Can we just get back to figuring out what we're going to do?" he changed the subject after a minute of awkward silence.

Before anyone could respond, not that anyone had any idea what to do, the doorbell went off obnoxiously. All humor drained out of the room, and I found myself praying Hightower hadn't come looking for me already. Of course, Blitz would've told him granted that he'd survived, but this was too quick. Wasn't it? With a gulp, I stood to answer it when the room tilted on its side.

"Easy," Fang said catching me against him. "I'll get it."

"I just remembered why I hate being drugged," I grimaced watching Fang head for the door.

I glanced over at Jeb and Mom whose eyes were focused towards Fang. I took a deep breath trying to be calm, but their agitated fidgeting wasn't helping me much.

"What the..." Fang yelled from outside, destroying the calm I was trying to maintain.

With little thought towards my jellied legs, I jumped up trying to run to the door. The dizziness threatened to send me sprawling, and though I slammed into the wall trying to stay upright, I miraculously didn't fall. I hurried to the open door and quickly realized why Fang was pissed off.

There standing in the front yard, bruised, bleeding, covered in grime, generally worse off than Fang and yet as cocky as ever was Blitz.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded moving to stand next to Fang. Blitz showing up here could only mean something was up. And that something, I'd learned from experience was, nine times out of ten, a bad thing.

"I was about to explain that to lover boy here when he-" he started, interrupted by Fang's fist colliding with his face again.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Fang said coldly staring Blitz down.

"Call off your pit-bull Max," Blitz pleaded in frustration. "I'm here to help you."

"Does she look stupid?" Fang shot back planting a kick against Blitz's chest.

"Why?" I asked putting a hand on Fang's shoulder. Yes, I enjoyed seeing Blitz in agony, but he was already seriously hurt and unlike him, I liked to fight fair.

"Couldn't you have done that sooner?" Blitz choked out spitting blood onto the grass. He was already a mess, but the blood running down his face only added to his ragged appearance. The dirty cut above his eyebrow was deep and ragged, and instantly, I knew it was made by a gun barrel, not Fang's fist. _Hightower did that, _I thought randomly, _but why?_ I had no idea what had transpired during the time I was drugged or after, but I was sure he deserved everything he got.

"Yeah, but I was enjoying it too much," I said eyeing him coldly. "Answer the question."

"Why am I here? To help you," he answered throwing a glance at Fang. "Look the squad's just waiting for the right approval to kill the council, and they can only delay for so long. I know you know what I'm talking about Max; I know you took that file. Only Max or I can call them off."

"Then let it be you," Fang muttered darkly.

"So what, now we're supposed to suddenly believe that you left the Compound, saw the light, and switched sides?" I asked skeptically. "I don't think so."

Blitz sighed obviously having expected this. You don't do half of what he's done and expect instant forgiveness. At least not from me. _What about Ari? _My mind asked suddenly. Great...just great, advice from myself.

"Look Max, no one's coming. I told Hightower I would handle it and he sent me because he has no one else, but I'm not going back. I'm tired of being a whipping boy," he tried to explain. "I tried to reason with him and he told me to come back with you or not to come back at all. I'm done."

"Yeah sure," Fang muttered stepping between Blitz and I. "How do I know this isn't just a twisted scheme to get at Max?"

"I know what I've done and I'm sorry. Think about it Max, all those times I suggested getting away from the Compound, I meant it. I hated that place as much as you did.

"You had a funny way of showing it," I said icily. "The mall is an excellent example."

"Max, I..." he paused looking up at me. "I'm done delusioning myself."

"Meaning?" I asked the razor edge to my voice fading quickly. I glanced at Fang who I could tell was just waiting for the chance to rip Blitz apart. I was tempted to go ahead and let him, but something in his tone stopped me.

"I'm not stupid Max. I mean I've done plenty of stupid things, but I know better now," he said calmly looking from me to Fang. "I know better than to think she could love me. When I called her name, it wasn't my voice she heard. When she looked at me with any kind of hope in her eyes, it wasn't my face she saw. When I touched her and even when I kissed her, I know better now than to think it was my lips on hers she felt. I thought if I killed you, I could make it better, but... Fang, even when she doesn't remember you, she loves you. How can I compare?"

"According to you, you would make her love you and take what you wanted," Fang said evenly. Blitz was getting no sympathy from him. "I don't trust you and I never will. I'd kill you right now if I thought it would help anything."

I glanced from Blitz to Fang hardly believing the words escaping either of their mouths. On one hand, I could let Fang do exactly what he wanted, but on the other, I could use Blitz's help in stopping Hightower. I mean, it would be nice to believe he'd seen the light, but I really, really doubted it. What was I supposed to do? Blitz didn't belong here, I knew that. I also knew this was probably just another trick of his, but something in me told me I couldn't jump to conclusions. It was like my calculating assassin was warring against the old me. Use him while you can, the assassin yelled while the old me was determined to screw him and let Fang have fun. Be rational or screw rationality? Yeah, you'd be confused too.

"What's the catch?" I asked finally, my tone brittle.

"What?" Fang asked incredulously looking at me like I'd completely snapped. I really hate being the leader sometimes, but I'm just too stubborn to give up the title to anyone else. Always have been, always will be.

"You can help, but then you're gone. If I ever see you again, I'm going to let Fang rip off your arms and beat you with them," I continued trying not to see Fang's jaw hanging slack or the look he was giving me. "So what's the catch?"

"Only that we stop Hightower," Blitz replied his eyes flashing like steel.

"That's already being arranged and we don't need you," Fang growled.

"She seems to think so," Blitz shot back lapsing into his normal self rather quickly. "Just don't screw it up."

"I don't plan to," Fang said. "The moment you try anything, you even look at Max funny, and I will rip you apart. Don't try me."

Blitz nodded slowly as Fang walked back towards me. He passed me, however, as if to say I don't agree with this, but didn't go too far ahead of me, my omnipresent protector.

"Max, I'm sorry. I..." Blitz began grabbing my hand.

"What did I just-" Fang started to interrupt as he whirled around.

"Don't pretend that we're friends now," I interrupted Fang. I grabbed Blitz's hand bending his fingers backwards. "We're not and we never will be. So don't ever touch me without my permission. Am I clear?" I emphasized my words by snapping his ring and pinkie finger. Ah, the omnipresent assassin in me, gotta love it.

"Yes," Blitz muttered as I let go. He winced at the damage I'd done to his fingers, but didn't say any more about it. Which, I noticed, was odd for Blitz, but I wasn't about to lose any sleep over it.

Now that my bloodthirsty revenge had been quelled slightly, I turned and stalked back to the house. It wasn't quite the plan I'd had in mind, but at least Blitz had gotten my point. If I'd have gone all out, I think I might have broken his entire arm, but if he was going to help, tearing his limbs off wasn't a good start.

"Regardless, they have to rise to the occasion. Otherwise…" Jeb was telling Mom until she looked up and saw us. "Either way, Hightower will come looking."

"Max," Mom started to say until her eyes looked past me to see Blitz.

"Of course Hightower will come looking," Blitz said ignoring the looks he was getting. "Max is his obsession; she's the only one he's ever loved albeit in his own sick twisted way. To him, Max is more important than everything else."

Fang rolled his eyes at Blitz, but otherwise ignored him. I watched as Jeb's eyes filled with anger, which is was a feat for him. Jeb hadn't gotten mad in the time I'd come back at me or anyone else. Probably because he's been on both sides and had people think he was a traitor, myself included. He knows better than most how it is to have done things you're not proud of. It's something I have complete empathy for now, even if I didn't then. Jeb's eyes flashed towards me, filled with a questioning look. I gave him a slight nod and his look faded into a mask of complete distrust.

"He'd do anything to have what he wants," Blitz said calmly ignoring the angry stares he was getting. "But, with any luck, he won't get it this time."

"What the hell?" Ella growled as she walked into the room. She bit her lip trying to choke back the string of other worse expletives she wanted to say. "Why is he here?"

"Good question," Gazzy muttered walking up behind her fingering the small explosive in his hands.

As the rest of the flock filtered into the room, I was nearly dancing with smug satisfaction. Sounds bad I know, but you'd be happy if the jerk that had nearly destroyed your sanity, or whatever was left of it in my case, was now being stared down by nine people who were obviously on your side. Go on; imagine it and I bet you feel better.

"He's going to help us," Angel explained coming to sit next to me. I could practically see the sarcastic finger quotes around the help part. Did I teach her to be so sarcastic? Probably, since I'm such a good influence. "He's not planning anything…yet. I hope he knows better."

Oh, how I love having a little mind reader on my team. Current the score is now the Flock: 3 and Blitz: 0. Ouch…

"If he doesn't know better, he will," Iggy smirked folding his arms across his chest.

"Look, I can't say anything to make you trust me so can we just get back to making a plan or what?" Blitz muttered reaching into his jacket and pulling out another thick file folder. Seriously, what is it with evil whitecoats and manila file folders? Is it like a requirement?

"Oh, don't mind them," Fang grinned at Blitz obviously enjoying his discomfort. "They seem to like you. Usually they'd be attacking you."

"Right," Blitz mumbled handing Jeb the folder.

"What's this?" Jeb questioned switching the subject briskly.

"Something to help you understand exactly what you're up against," Blitz replied looking relieved. "The Compound is hell on earth, but it's also efficient."

"This is…" Mom mumbled reading over Jeb's shoulder and glancing over at me. "Have you seen this Max?"

"Depends on what 'this' is," I said unsure if I even wanted to know.

"Records, charts, dates, reports," Jeb said quietly. "You name it, it's here. Everything about you Max."

I gulped and slowly rose to my feet, moving behind Jeb to read the folders contents over his shoulder.

"It's like a biography of your life," Angel said inching closer to me, but keeping a good distance between her and Blitz.

"And before her life," Jeb added as he thumbed through the papers. "My notes from when the idea first came about are in here, though I haven't seen them in ages."

"What?" I whispered noticing several reports dated just less than two years ago. Most of these reports had a familiar signature, the scrawling script of Dr. Markus Hightower.

"Most of those were from when you first arrived at the Compound," Blitz said following my line of sight. "Before they erased your memory."

"Oh…" I mumbled weakly.

It made sense though. It explained why I didn't remember any of the tests and procedures. Just what had gone on? Somehow, none of this was making me feel any better. It was only giving me more questions than answers, which was not what I needed. Looking down at the charts and data, my brain exploded into another repressed memory from the Compound.

_"Will you kill them, your beloved Flock?" a scientist, Dr. Miles according to his nametag, asked slowly. _

_"No," I replied in annoyance. Glancing around, I quickly recognized the room. Back in the interrogation room, eh? "I'd rather die."_

_"That can be arranged Maximum," Dr. Miles smirked looking over at the mirror. _

_I looked horrible in the reflection. Bruises covered my face and bare forearms. Plus I'm wearing something that looks like a prison jumpsuit, only in light blue. Still, I haven't been broken yet. _

_"Then get it over with because I'm not going to hurt them," I muttered straining against the thick bands that secured me to the chair._

_"As you wish," he shrugged pulling a syringe out of his lab coat and set it on the table._

_Digging into his coat further, he withdrew a stretchy rubber band type material and a tiny vial, carefully keeping the label turned away from me. I glared at him as he tied the band around my arm, just above the elbow, as a tourniquet. Slowly, to make the moment more dramatic I guess, he pulled the clear liquid from the vial up through the needle and then inserted the tip beneath my bruised skin alongside other track marks. Very reassuring isn't it?_

_"Let's see what your answer is now," Dr. Miles said watching me intently even as he undid the band. "You see, I've just injected you with a concoction of toxic chemicals. In a matter of seconds, this will reach your heart and spread throughout your body and in about three to five minutes, you'll be dead. Unless you change your mind, of course. I have the only antidote."_

_"I don't believe you," I retorted trying to hide the fire that began tracing my veins._

_"We'll see."_

_I held my gaze even with Dr. Miles and tried to keep my head high as the pain intensified starting to feel as though someone had lit a match beneath my skin. I heard a cry rise up in steady crescendo and it took me a second to realize it was my voice becoming an involuntary scream. _

_Dr. Miles chuckled grabbed my arm and jabbing a second hypodermic into my arm. "Is my point clear now?"_

_I wheezed as the antidote seeped into my tortured vein, a welcome, cooling relief. He unstrapped my arms and immediately I crashed forward onto the table, completely exhausted. Dr. Miles stood there, silently putting his hand on my back, watching as I coughed blood onto the table and it ran slowly down my chin._

_"So," he whispered finally, his tone cold and detached, "will you kill for us?"_

_I swallowed painfully, and took several deep breaths before I raised my head enough to be level with him. "Go screw yourself, because I refuse to hurt anyone. On second thought though, I'd kill you for free."_

"Max?" Fang's voice cut in ending the memory. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I lied quickly giving him a weak smile. The burning beneath my skin was still fresh in my mind though. Maybe I didn't want to remember everything.

"You're sure you don't remember any of this?" Jeb asked catching my eyes momentarily.

"No, I don't," I replied feeling sick.

"I just don't understand how they can do something like this," Jeb muttered looking at Blitz. "How could they erase her memory so totally without meddling with her brain?"

Blitz's next words, if he even had any were drowned out by the familiar throbbing of another memory. This was not a trip down memory lane that I needed.

_"Hightower, you need to slow down," I heard Anne say somewhere to my right. _

_I, on the other hand, am running at breakneck speed on a treadmill. I can't breathe and my muscles demand relief. The timer says I've been at this for six and a half hours straight and I don't doubt it. My pace slowed slightly and immediately an electric shock jolted my already exhausted system and it's all I can do to stay standing let alone running. _

_"Come on Max," Hightower said coolly from where he's standing with Anne. "I know you can do better."_

_I steadied myself and tried to go again. This time though, something's not right. With a sudden jerk, like I've been shocked again, I fell off the treadmill crashing to the cold linoleum floor. The only problem, there was no shock. In an instant, another whitecoat, Hightower, and Anne are next to me. _

_"Her heart's beating way to fast," the one I don't recognize said in an authoritative tone. "Her heart muscle is over working itself."_

_In a few moments, I'm suddenly standing in a small room watching my limp form on a table. Talk about freaky; an out of body experience tops my list. _

_"Hightower, she's crashing," the doctor yelled angrily. _

_"Markus please," Anne pleaded using the boss's first name. It must be serious. "If she dies…"_

_"She won't," Hightower replied, monitoring some type of electrodes on my forehead. "This is necessary."_

_I watched in disbelief, unable to do anything, as my heart flatlines. I winced as the young doctor jammed an adrenaline shot into my chest and then shocked me once, twice before my heart resumes its normal rhythm. _

_After a momentary fit of darkness, I'm once again back in my body listening to the soft voices of Anne and Hightower. _

_"Necessary?" Anne is demanding. "You could've killed her, Markus! Then where would we be?"  
"It's the Phoenix effect, Anne," Hightower answers her in an even tone. "The phoenix lives out its life until it gets old and then it bursts into flame-"_

"_And is reborn in its own ashes," Anne finishes for him. "I know that. What does it have to do with her?"_

_"Everything. You see the old Max was of no use to us, but now, now because of her death," Hightower replies and I can hear the emphasis on death. "The new Max is like the phoenix. She will be our perfect killer. Reborn to be an assassin."_

"Repression has been proven to work, but it doesn't explain the perfect absence of memory. How then?" Jeb muttered to himself as I came back to reality.

"I died," I breathed softly.

"Hey whoa," Blitz said catching me as my legs gave out beneath me.

Fang appeared next to Blitz, his eyes narrowed in anger. "Move," he said hotly, eyeing the way Blitz's arms were wrapped around me in order to hold me up.

"Sorry," Blitz muttered relinquishing his hold on me.

"Why do you always have to pretend you're okay when you're not?" Fang asked gently carrying me to the couch.

"Just stubborn I guess," I mumbled trying to fight off a wave of nausea.

Fang took a deep breath watching me intently gauging if I was okay. "What do you mean died?" he asked obviously disturbed by that train of thought.

I took a few breaths and quickly relayed the memory to the silent room.

"Oh Max," Mom said softly as I finished.

'That bastard," Jeb growled angrily.

"He doesn't care," Blitz said, "but I didn't know about that."

"Neither did I," I said leaning back into the couch.

"That gives me an idea though," Mom said, suddenly standing up and heading back to the table where Fang's laptop was sitting unused.

"What do you mean?" Jeb asked her in confusion as I wearily opened my eyes.

"Basically," Mom started as she opened up Wikipedia, "Hightower forced a severe case of amnesia on Max, retrograde amnesia to be exact. See here it is; retrograde amnesia is a form of amnesia where someone will be unable to recall events that occurred before a certain time. Most people lose their autobiographic memory, but are still able to perform everyday tasks and learn new things."

"Okay, so how did Hightower force it?" Ella asked thoughtfully.

"Well, there's another subgroup of amnesia and I think that Max has situation-specific retrograde amnesia. See situation-specific means that the amnesia occurred as a result of a stressful event," Jeb explained reading further on the page.

"Well dying is a stressful event," I said weakly trying to force a grin.

"Exactly, in response to your heart going into cardiac arrest, your brain basically erased its own memory as a defense mechanism. Forgetting was the only way to survive," Mom said quickly. "Now I'm not a therapist or anything, but that would make sense to me. This whole situation reminded me of the Jason Bourne series, and it's had me thinking for a while."

"So why didn't I remember anything before?" I asked leaning into Fang.

"Well, if your memories were gone, just as Hightower wanted, he could've easily manipulated you however he wanted. You'd be much like a little child at that point, willing to do anything to remember what was going on," Jeb theorized calmly.

"Yeah, but I hated it," I replied with a sigh.

"Hightower might have erased your memories, but he couldn't erase you, your personality that is," Blitz said. "He'd have to do a lot more than replace your memories to do that."

"So now we just need the trigger that started the memories," Jeb nodded at Blitz.

"Fang," Mom said simply.

"What?" he asked looking up at her.

"No, I mean, you're the trigger," she replied.

"But I remembered things before I came here," I said shooting down that theory.

"That might not matter," Blitz muttered from behind my mom. I hadn't noticed that he had been reading over her shoulder. "It says that sometimes a person may remember when in a situation of intense emotion. I don't know about anything before that, but when I kissed you, you remembered something and then you blacked out. Intense emotion was definitely there."

"Yeah," I admitted feeling Fang's arm tighten around me.

"Then when you were here, with Fang, your brain was triggered to start remembering," Ella said. "Makes sense to me. In fact, it's cute. Love conquers all."

"The reason you remember stuff from the Compound is from reading those papers," Jeb said reading further. "Those memories were triggered by related stimuli."

"Oh," I said softly trying to ignore the throbbing in my head, "but I still don't remember everything."

"I think it'll just take time," Mom said closing the laptop.

"I'll be right here to help you," Fang whispered in my ear.

"Speaking of help, we're going to need it," Blitz said grimly. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we need to do something about Operation Revolution. Unfortunately, that problem won't take time and it won't wait."

"We shouldn't go anywhere until we know for sure that Max is okay," Angel spoke up shooting a glare at Blitz.

"No, as much as I wish he was wrong, we can't wait," I interjected standing up slowly and putting a hand on Angel's shoulder. "Whether I'm okay or not, something has to be done about Hightower's plan and that something has to be done now."

"How do we stop him then? I mean I've got plenty of bombs and stuff, but we can't just waltz in," Gazzy said still playing with small bomb in his hand.

"I've got a few ideas," I said, which was only half true. I hadn't quite thought them out all the way, but they were coming together…slowly. That was better than nothing right? "I'll need everyone's help though."

"You know we'll all here for you," Fang said standing up behind me, his arm protectively around my waist. "All you have to do is ask."

**A/N: Gasp, Blitz is a good guy now! Well, only so long as it benefits him... Anyway, yes that was long to read, but imagine how long it was to type, so there. Haha! Anyway, I hope it all made sense and you all like it! Now, I'm working on the next chapter, but I've hit a snag. So any and all ideas, suggestions, and stuff would be greatly appreciated! I just need something to get me going again! So please lemme know! Review and tell me what you think and give me any ideas! I love all your reviews!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Yay! I finally got rid of my writer's block! Well, more or less anyway. But I am working once again so that's good. Now my only problem is finding time between working and such. Ah well, at least having a laptop helps a lot now. So this chapter I must admit is sort of filler and I'm sorry for that, but I just have to get everything into position. It's not too bad though I don't think. I guess you could say I was inspired by my depression over reading ANGEL. Still, I rather enjoy this chapter. Poor Fang gets slightly tortured though, which amuses me greatly. **

**Disclaimer: Still nothing belongs to me…sigh…besides Blitz. Oh and maybe Fang's new hair hehehe.**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 20: Well Laid Plans**

We were heading to New York City, the Big Apple, where the UN Headquarters was located. By us, I mean Max, Blitz, and myself. Unfortunate I know. I hadn't wanted to bring Blitz, but I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. To ensure Hightower believed Blitz's story, he'd have to be there. Therefore, I was outvoted. I just hoped that this plan would work out like it was supposed to. Any blueprints the Flock has laid out in the past have had a nasty habit of going extremely wrong. Max did have an uncanny knack for playing it by ear, but I wasn't about to hedge any bets on it when our lives were at stake.

As for the plan itself, I still wasn't sure I liked it. Blitz was supposed to go into Hightower and explain that he had brought Max back, who was supposedly feeling much better now that she was all reformed and whatnot. Hopefully, Hightower would welcome Max back with open arms. The part that really irritated me was that I wasn't going to be anywhere nearby when the reunion was going on. I was going to be helping Blitz's mates help move the council members.

When Jeb and Val arrived on their private jet, being a brilliant scientist with ties to a senator had its perks; they would take the council somewhere safe, probably to their respectful embassies. Hightower's clones would be moved into the council chambers to await further instruction. If Hightower suspected Blitz or Max, he could assassinate the council, but he would only be killing his clones. Then I would storm the assembly hall of the UN building with Blitz's squad and the Flock to arrest Hightower. With any luck the result would be bad guy apprehended and world saved.

But, and that was a huge but, it was all a little too easy if you asked me. Do you see the main problem I'm having with this plan? Count the number of times we have to rely of Blitz and I think you'll understand a bit better. That doesn't even take into account Mr. I Will Rule the World either. People like him just weren't stable.

But as much as I disliked Blitz, I trusted Max with my life and she trusted him right now. I just had to trust her instincts because there was no way in hell I was about to let her do this alone.

_"She's not as strong as she'd like you to believe," Angel had whispered softly as we'd prepared to leave. "Be careful."_

Angel's warning echoed in my ears now as I watch Max fly just in front of me. I could clearly see the tiredness that hung off her in waves. It was the sort of pure, unadulterated exhaustion that didn't just come from our long flight or any lingering drugs in her system. Those were part of it, but they weren't the real reason. The real reason was emotional exhaustion. The memories that were bombarding her at any given moment were sporadic, yet draining. The more Max remembered, however, I wondered how much she wished she didn't. For every new memory, there seemed to be a new shadow behind her eyes.

"See something you like?" she called to me suddenly rousing me from my thoughts. The levity in her voice was forced, but I played along hoping to relax her even a little.

"Nah, I'm more into redheads," I teased, smirking at her scowl.

"Oh spare me," she retorted falling back so that she was flying even with me. "As I recall, you find me plenty girly enough."

"That's funny because I remember _you_ telling me you loooooooooooooved me," I grinned glancing over at Blitz's pained expression. That look alone raised my spirits more than anything. "Oh yeah, I definitely think it was you that said that gem."

"I didn't-" Max's protest was quickly cut short as it occurred to her that I was right as usual.

"Whenever you two love birds are finished, we're almost there," Blitz pointed out.

I nodded following his line of sight. Sure enough, as we flew down just beneath the cloud cover, the vast city of New York was waiting. I shivered trying to ignore the sense of déjà vu that was creeping up on me.

It wasn't hard to pick out the UN Building as we flew over it. I guess it must have been the flags parked out front that gave it away. The tall central skyscraper stood out along the East River's shoreline and the slightly curved smaller building was a nice touch. It stood out from the other buildings and was instantly recognizable. A perfect target for our beloved Dr. Hightower.

"Let's land behind that hotel or whatever and walk across the block," Max said her voice going steely. All trace of humor had been immediately replaced by a grim sense of gravity. "Hopefully three dirty teenagers walking towards the UN building will draw a little less attention than three dirty teenagers flying towards the UN building."  
"Unless New York has run out of its steady supply of dirty teens in the time since we were here last, I think we should be covered," I said angling downwards. "But you just never know with hobos."

"Hightower will have people watching for anyone matching our descriptions," Blitz added. "And anyone of the Flock as well."

"Well, we'll just have to blend with the crowd," Max shrugged stealing a furtive glance at me.

I returned the look hoping she could read that I was ready to follow her to hell and back. This wasn't going to be a walk in the park by any means, but it was almost just like old times. Though usually, we didn't walk right into the arms of trouble, it just seems to find us. It must be a gift.

"The Millennium UN Plaza Hotel," Blitz read off the only slightly gaudy billboard. "Fancy much?"

"Just a little," Max agreed landing on shaky legs.

I reached for her arm to steady her, which was a case of the blind leading the blind. I was in no better shape and it was apparent we weren't going to be storming the UN building just yet. Taking Max's hand, I glanced up at the glass façade of the hotel.

"Maybe they have some fancy foods too," I pointed out turning towards the entrance into the hotel's inviting lobby.

"We don't have time to-" Blitz started to protest before I shot him a glare.

"Look Blitz, after that long flight we're going to be shaky," I growled trying to maintain a level of calm. "It's not a good idea to go in guns blazing on shaky legs, so it's not going to happen. Besides I can hear your stomach growling from here, so save us the time and don't argue with me. Now let's go raid their continental breakfast."

Blitz couldn't argue with my logic and apparently neither could Max. We followed our noses straight towards the complimentary breakfast. Of course I think it's only complimentary if you pay for a room, but it wasn't like anyone was going to eat all of it. No one would miss a pancake or twenty. For all they knew we were the kids of some traveling dignitary or something. Yeah right, and Max is the queen of Timbuktu.

After diligently making sure that Max had loaded up on pancakes, muffins, bacon, and the works, we snagged an empty table in the corner where we could see the UN Building through the glass. People in business suits scurried back and forth or worked quietly on laptops. No one seemed to pay any attention to a trio of teens sitting in a corner, which was fine by me. I sighed watching the man sitting two tables over from us arguing into his cellphone. Apparently the business leaders of the United States had plenty more important things to worry about. If only they knew what was going to go down in the building next door and how we were going to save their butts.

"It won't be easy to just waltz inside you know," Blitz spoke up giving me a pointed look. "At least not for all of us."

"Well I'm not waiting outside," I said letting my voice drop into the steel category.

"I know that. God forbid anyone ask you to have a little patience," Blitz muttered watching me sullenly. "I'm just saying we'll have to figure something else out."

"Start figuring then," I said calmly deciding to be merciful and let the patience comment go.

"Why don't you just call Raze?" Max asked in exasperation. "If Raze doesn't have a phone, Kyle will. Unless of course you ditched that little safety measure the moment I was gone."

"No, I didn't," Blitz muttered fishing in his pocket for change. "Got a quarter?"

I dug a quarter out of my pocket and watched Blitz saunter outside to the nearest payphone. "With him on our side how could we ever fail?" I said sarcastically. "Somehow I'm not reassured."

"It'll work," Max shrugged glancing out the window.

"I know," I shrugged brushing my fingers against hers. "Your plans always have a knack for working out."

"I know."

"So what's wrong?"

"Would you believe me if I said nothing?" she asked linking her gaze with mine.

"Depends, but probably not," I answered truthfully. Usually Max becoming quiet meant something was on her mind, but hell if I could figure out what it was this time.

"I think I should be nervous, but I'm not," she said giving me a sly smile as she drummed her fingers idly.

"Then why the sullen quiet?"

Max shrugged stuffing half a muffin in her mouth. "I always get quiet when I'm antsy. I guess I'm just jacked up for this. I almost disturbingly excited."

"Adrenaline junkie," I smiled noting all the signs I'd taken for anxiety. Here I was worried and Max was excited?

"I am I guess," she said taking my hand. "I never enjoyed the assassination part, but I did like to see what I could sneak into without getting caught. You'd be surprised what I've gotten into."

"Great, you're a career criminal," I said feigning horror. "Whatever will your mother think?"

I couldn't say as I blamed her though. I must confess that I've done my fair share of things and gotten away with them. I've hacked the School's database as well as Hightower's and Jeb's personal computers. Not that anyone should follow my example. Do as I say, not as I do as Max would say.

"Who knows? But I'm always excited about sneaking into places. Just ask Blitz."  
"Ask me what?" Blitz said rejoining our conversation and abruptly ending it.

"Nothing," I said quickly changing the subject.

"We're in luck," Blitz shrugged giving me a suspicious look. "Raze thinks he can get a uniform for Fang here. The UN building has its own security team, but if we can pass Fang off as one of them…"

"It'll get him into the building," Max finished.

"You and me on the other hand," Blitz smirked, "have a free pass. Raze will take us right up to Hightower when the time comes."

It was highly unlikely that I was going to let Blitz and Max stroll through the front door while I had to sneak around the back. There was no surety that Blitz was telling the truth and it would be extremely easy for him to betray us at the drop of a hat. Call me paranoid, but I learned it from Max.

"There's just one other problem," Blitz went on before I could point my suspicions out. "Hightower will recognize Fang even with the security cap and visor. We've got to at least throw Hightower off a little bit."

"What do you suggest?" Max asked. "We can't put a motorcycle helmet on him and call it good."

"No, but Raze has a few supplies we can borrow," Blitz grinned dangerously. "And I have a few ideas on how to make Fang a new man. Plus it'll give the rest of the Flock a little more time to catch up."

I pushed my half devoured plate of food away. My appetite had vanished at the look I was getting from Blitz. This was going to be a long morning, I could tell.

A little less than two hours later, I really was a new man. Trust me; I was having major troubles reconciling the old Fang with this new guy sitting in front of me. It was going to take a long while to get used to what I saw before me. That is if I didn't ditch the look as soon as possible.

Raze had joined us in the Millennium's lobby a few minutes after his phone call with Blitz brandishing a duffel bag of his "supplies." I hadn't wanted to ask just what those supplies were as we rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. I had a feeling that Max knew and I'd find out soon enough whether I wanted to or not.

Max had easily broken us into room 45, just one of her many criminal talents, and immediately set to work helping Raze set up the torture chamber…er bathroom. Now, almost two hours later, much to my horror and naturally Max's more than slight amusement, I looked much different. Raze had quickly gone to work on my shaggy hair chopping it to a short spiky length of two inches. I had allowed it…sort of. I'd still put up a good protest as my shaggy black hair fell to the floor around me. A slight haircut wasn't too bad. Now I looked more like Neo from the Matrix, which was fitting considering the situation. So the trim was fine with me. It wasn't until Raze pulled out the bleach that I started to freak.

"You are not putting that in my hair," I growled ready to battle for my right to leave my hair dark.

"Then you aren't getting into the building with us," Blitz said rather calmly.

I glanced at Max, hating the fact that I was being given an ultimatum by Blitz of all people. I knew if Hightower recognized me, then the jig was up. But bleaching my hair? How was that completely necessary? Max merely smiled at me apologetically. I sighed knowing I was doomed. When this was all over, maybe Max would find some bleach in her shampoo? I know it's just my hair, but seriously. My black hair is like my signature and her I was getting it bleached. Oh God…

"Is it reversible?" I asked staring into the mirror with a look that was a mix of depression and rage.

"Yes, it'll wear out," Raze nodded. "Or you can buzz it after. Whatever."

"Don't buzz it," Max cut in standing next to me in the mirror. "It's not so bad."

"Sure it isn't," I said running my hand through my new do. "If I was considering joining a boy band anytime soon."

"Oh it's not even completely blonde," Max said flicking my ear. "Besides I've had my hair dyed just about every color of the rainbow and I'm not dead."

"But you're a girl," I moped as if that explained everything.

Max just rolled her eyes not bothering to argue with me. She was right though, to a degree. My hair really wasn't completely blonde. Instead it had gone a caramel color with hints of milk chocolate. Great, I'm comparing my own hair to a candy bar. I really have lost my mind completely.

It did make my eyes seem different though, which is what it was supposed to do I guess. They now seemed to be a light grey almost stormy blue color that was completely unlike their normal dusky grey color. To the untrained eye, it would be as if Max had entered the room with one slightly dirty guy and left with another. It really wasn't that bad, though I wasn't about to admit that to Max anytime soon.

"Well, I don't think Hightower will see this coming," Blitz whistled as Raze quickly cleaned up.

"He won't," Max whispered in my ear. "Because you look good."

"Well, as long as you think so," I smirked turning and catching her lips with my own.

"It's time to get going boss," Raze interrupted deferring to Max instead of Blitz.

Unfortunately, that meant I didn't have time to savor my stolen kiss. We had a coup to wage against Hightower. And it was about time to get it underway.

**A/N: So how was it? Poor Fang… I almost feel bad. Or maybe I would if I hadn't just finished ANGEL and wasn't so flipping mad at him for being a bastard. But that's a whole other issue. Now things are about to get interesting. Hightower isn't going to know what hit him. You just don't mess with Max and her Flock. That's just bad etiquette. I'm excited to work on the next chappie so I'll get it done as soon as possible. In the meantime, you know the drill. Review and tell me your feelings about blonde Fang and stuffs! In case anyone wanted to know, I imagine a blonde Asher Book when I think of a bleached Fang. Yes…that's a nice mental image.**

**PUSH BOB!**

**~lightNdarkangel **


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Whew, finally we're moving along…slowly. Between work and life and lack of inspiration, I've been very bad at working on this. But I had some random inspiration so here I am…again. It's weird how I go from no knowing what to write to suddenly it hits me dead square in the face or sometimes the jaw. Anyway, this chapter is sorta filler (boo I know) but only because the real action is just around the corner. I just gotta make sure all the pieces fall into place. Like a giant chess game of sorts. Okay, I've lost it, it being my mind, so I'm just going to stop now and let you get on with reading.**

**Disclaimer: This is me, owning nothing.**

~ The Angel Assassin ~

**Chapter 22: Infiltration**

"We will soon be landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City," the flight attendant's voice said over the intercom. "Please fasten your seatbelts as we begin our descent."

Angel quickly buckled her lap belt and toyed with her hands. They'd be in New York soon and Max would be there. Everything would work out according to plan. They'd take a shuttle to the UN building and wait for Fang's signal. Simple, right? Yet no matter how she tried to quash it however, an annoying sense of doom mixed with déjà vu gnawed at the back of her mind. What if Hightower had already second guessed them all? What if Max was walking into a trap?

"Wringing your hands like that isn't going to make the plane land any faster you know," Nudge pointed out. "Maybe we could just jump out the emergency exit. That'd get us on the ground faster. Do you think that's illegal Jeb? Probably, but we should still try it sometime. We'll have to ask Max when we see her-"

"We'll ask when we see her," Iggy said cutting Nudge off mid rant.

Angel smiled getting a sense of Iggy's thoughts. She'd promised Max not to read them on purpose without permission and it was a promise she did her best to keep. But like in this case, there was no way not to hear what Iggy was thinking. It was practically on loudspeaker.

_I don't get why Fang gets to tag along with Max and what's his bucket. If they'd have let me go with them, I wouldn't be stuck in this stupid flying tin can. I could probably fly faster than this thing if I really wanted to. Max isn't the only one who can fly with some serious speed. _His thoughts looped with more than a little irritation.

Angel chuckled wondering if Ig was still too annoyed to notice that the young flight attendant thought he was hot. She'd only passed him five hundred times the whole flight, each asking if there was anything else she could get him. Too bad for her, Ig was kind of already claimed by Ella.

With a smile, Angel turned towards the window and Jeb. Jeb was ever the enigma. He looked so calm, but underneath he was anything but. He was really concerned about Max this time. Although it would've probably just irritated Max, Angel thought it was kind of sweet. Dr. M on the other hand wasn't trying in the slightest to disguise her anxiety. That unease would've made Max smile and probably get all gooey, not that she'd show it. It was weird how Max hated it when Jeb acted all parental, but she adored being fawned over by Val. Although, Angel supposed, in all fairness being betrayed more than once by said father figure did that to a person.

Once again, Angel felt impatience flood through her as the flight attendant began checking to see that everyone was properly buckled into their seats. Why couldn't they just land already? The sooner that got on the ground, the sooner she could get to helping Max. It was something Angel was determined to do. Max had always helped her out of problems, now it was Angel's turn to help Max.

* * *

"Hightower's in the General Assembly Hall," Raze said pointing down at the building plans. "The council members are in a smaller conference room down the hall."

"So we'll move the council out of harm's way and lead the clones in," Fang nodded looking over the blueprints that were laid out on the table.

I must admit, he looked kickass and sexy in his black security uniform. It was more than a little distracting to my focus. I swallowed thickly all at once excited and nervous to face Hightower. There was no telling what might happen.

"Well hey boss," Kyle greeted me as he entered the room with the rest of the squad. "Looking good."

Kyle, Switch, and the gang were all decked out in the same garb that Fang was wearing. It was styled to look like something from L.A. SWAT, but lighter. I've never been one for uniforms, but I might have to make an exception to the rule.

"Not bad yourself," I said returning his smile.

"Just one question for you though," Switch asked raising his hand like a school boy. "What's with Justin Bieber?"

"I look nothing like him," Fang growled grabbing Switch and slamming him into the wall.

"Holy bananas! It's Fang," Kyle laughed ribbing Raze. "But what'd you do to him?"

"Don't ask," I said quickly. "He's still in mourning over the whole thing."

After a moment of angry tension, Fang let go of Switch and moved to stand next to me. I had a feeling he was going to be touchy about his hair for a long time.

"Well, at least we know he's not easily recognized," Raze shrugged turning back to the blueprints. "Anyway, does everyone know their objectives?"

A chorus of yes sirs echoed around the room. Well, this was going to be interesting. The only thing I had any issue with was the fact that I was going to be alone with Hightower and Blitz. Any number of things could go wrong at any time. _No, _I chided myself. _You're not doing any good thinking them up._

"Alright," Blitz said stretching out his arms.

"Let's go," I agreed snapping the knife Kyle had supplied me with just in case to my belt. I prayed I wouldn't need it, but nothing was completely sure right now.

"Max," Fang said catching my arm as I moved to follow Blitz. "Be careful."

"You know I will," I nodded. "You be careful too."

"Always," he agreed leaning in to steal a quick kiss.

I ignored the whistling catcalls from Switch and Kyle and lost myself in Fang's embrace. Once Hightower was gone, I would make sure to get this treatment on a daily basis. Yet, I kissed Fang like I never would again. I mean, let's face it. Life span is never an assured thing when you're an assassin or a birdkid for that matter. And when you just happen to be both? Eventually you run out of lucky breaks. I was praying that I still had at least one more left in me.

"Be safe," Fang whispered softly in my ear as he backed away.

I shook my head in affirmation and then turned and followed after Blitz. If I looked at Fang again, I wasn't going to want to do anything but stay with him. Curse my emotional mind.

* * *

Blitz didn't say anything as we walked down the corridor to the Assembly Hall. As the sound of my footfalls rang in my ears, I was glad for the silence. I took deep breaths and cleared my mind. Hightower needed to see the icy assassin I could be and I was going to show him.

We entered the huge Assembly Hall and I was immediately taken back by the size of it. At the stand near the front where the speaker would stand to deliver their address, Hightower was standing with his back to us staring up the large symbol of the United Nations. He didn't turn around to face us even as we walked down the center aisle toward him.

"The United Nations is supposed to promote peace," he finally spoke though still not looking at us. "Yet, their very agenda is what has brought us here today. Wouldn't you agree Blitz?"

"Yes," he stated his voice going flat and monotone.

"Ah Max," Hightower went on ignoring his son's icy demeanor. "So good of you to join us. I had quite missed you."

"Where else would I go?" I asked with a shrug.

"Where else indeed?" Hightower muttered watching me closely. "But the past doesn't matter. We must look forward to our future."

"Future?" I echoed pretending I had no idea what Operation Revolution really was.

"Yes, you think we came to the United Nations to sightsee?" Hightower chuckled waving his hand to dismiss the thought. "You see Max, whoever controls the United Nations, controls world politics. Their influence would be felt across the globe. "

"You," I stated not liking where this train of thought was heading.

"Indeed," Hightower shrugged using a remote to power up the two projectors. On one side was a picture of a member of the UN and on the other was a second picture. "They seem the same don't they? But there is one key difference. The member on the left does what the council thinks is best. The member on the right does whatever I say is best."

"So you control them and they all defer to you," Blitz said looking rather bored.

"Yes," Hightower nodded with a smile. "We could control everything."

"We?" I asked.

"Of course Max," he said his smile broadening. "I'll be needing enforcers of my will and eventually a successor. Who better than my most trusted assassins?"

"No one," I agreed trying to hide my general disgust.

"Think of it Max, you could be anything you want, do anything you want," Hightower went on grinning like a little kid. "Everything you ever wanted yours at a moment's notice. Imagine it."

Oh, I was imagining it alright, just not in the context Hightower assumed. I had a hard enough time leading my squad and my flock let alone the whole world. The thought alone tugged at another buried memory. _It would put you in a position of great power Max, _Jeb's voice said. _But you've passed the test Max. You are incorruptible by power. _

I hoped that Jeb had been right. As disturbing as Hightower's plot was, I could see benefits to it as well. I could fix it so that no one would hunt my flock again. No one would hurt them or deny them anything. _No, _I scolded myself. _You know Hightower would get rid of them the moment he had the opportunity. _Hightower, however, mistook my silent contemplation for interest in ruling the world. His eagerness renewed he went on.

"There are endless possibilities you know," he said putting his hand on my shoulder.

"What about Blitz?" I asked shrugging away from his touch.

"Well, I had hoped that perhaps you and he would carry on the Hightower family name, but of course, that is entirely your decision Max," the good doctor said glancing at Blitz. "I would understand, however, if you declined to choose my son."

Son? Now that was something I wouldn't have guessed. It did explain why Hightower was so set on ingraining in Blitz's mind that he was supposed to be with me. Hightower hadn't really given Blitz an option. Not that it meant I was going to cut Blitz that much slack over it. He has daddy issues, I have daddy issues, but we both turned out at opposite ends of the spectrum.

"I see," I replied trying to look nonchalant. Even though I knew there was no way Hightower was getting mini evil scientists from me. It would be cold day in hell before that was ever going to happen.

"There is only one thing we have to do to ensure our future vision is completed," Hightower explained.

"Which is?"

"Well, we can't very well put our clones onto the council without getting rid of their originals now can we?"

"So you want me to kill them?" I asked steeling myself.

Hightower looked me over with a smug look that chilled me to the bone. "Do you want to?"

Hightower's words echoed in my ears as a simple challenge. I would have to prove myself to him by doing the only thing he'd ever trained me to do. Shed innocent blood. Hightower had me pegged. Despite my memories returning, part of me still wanted to kill them just for the thrill. Logically, I knew I wouldn't be killing the real council, but my throat went dry at the thought of the adrenaline that was spilling into my veins. My fingers itched to curl around the handle of my trusty blade. Whether my mind wanted it or not, my body was primed and ready to do what it did best.

My answer to Hightower scared me more than anything I'd ever faced in my entire life. Because as much as I wished it was a complete and utter lie, it wasn't and it never would be. I would always have violence in my blood. Always.

"Yes."

**A/N: Mmmm not to exciting I must say, but that's okay cause it will be. Anyway, please review and tell my muse she's not allowed to take breaks or vacation time. Well okay, maybe small breaks, but only very small ones.**

**~lightNdarkangel **


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